Down to Nothing
by M. Michelon
Summary: From the outside looking in, I was Penn Rivers. I was tough and mean. A bitch. No body wanted anything to do with me because I was dangerous, because I was the person that nobody messed with. What people didn't know who I really was, what had really happened. I looked like I had my life together. But the reality was that I had been stripped down to nothing.
1. Preface

**Author's Note: If you are interested in other imprint stories, I would recommend reading ****_The Consequences, Some Hearts but Not Mine, _****and ****_Hear No Evil._**** This story will coincide with those mentioned about. The story is rated T, but it is slightly dark and maybe a little graphic. Enjoy!**

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**Preface**

"Are you planning on doing your job tonight?" he asked me in that venomous voice that could send shivers down anyone's spine. "Because he's not going to wait all night. And if he doesn't get what we wants, you don't eat. Is that understood, Penelope?" I nodded. His booted foot came down on my eight-year-old ass, throwing me into the disgusting room of the house that we called a home. Well, he called it home. I called it prison.

I did my job dutifully, hoping that I could avoid beatings and malnutrition tonight. Oh course, at eight I was hoping that I wouldn't make Dad angry and he wouldn't eat my food because I didn't do what I was supposed to. So I continued to do my job like a good little girl. The things that some men would pay to do. And I could feel the all around me, everywhere. He wouldn't stop and it just kept going until - - -

I woke up in my bed, like I had every day since I had turned fourteen. It was a good deal better than the floor that I had slept on since _she _left. How could she fucking do that to me? How could she leave me with him? She was supposed to leave _with_ me before she got too sick. She wasn't supposed to leave me here alone. But she had. And Dad had only gotten worse after she left us. She was supposed to stay with me.

I pushed my hair away from my face, running my fingers through the sweaty strands as I breathed away the remnants of my nightmare. Every God damn night they played in my head like a broken video reel. They would never go away. It was the reality of life, of my life at least. I raked my fingers through my frizzing hair and swung my legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. The ugly scar on my leg glared at me, reminding me of what it is that I had lost. In easy words: everything.

I rested my head against the back of the bathtub, feeling the cool porcelain against the nape of my neck. All too soon it would be time to go to work... again. Such was life as an emancipated minor. But I would rather be here alone, working two jobs and going to school, than living at home with my father. "Just another day in paradise," I muttered over the bowl of instant oatmeal. That was kind of the staple of my diet. I lived on canned peaches, cottage cheese, and instant oatmeal. And coffee. Wonderful, wonderful coffee.

I pulled on my "uniform" for work, making sure to pull the long peacoat over my shoulders. I slipped the damn stilettos on and began the five mile walk to the club. "Hey Greg," I called as I neared the back door nearly forty-five minutes later. I wished that I could run here; it wouldn't take very long. _If_ you weren't wearing five inch heels and a pair of spanks that rode up your ass.

"Hey Penn; Ken's been asking about you," the bouncer said in response, holding the door open. "You're late."

"It's not like I just get to drive here. My car can barely drive me to school everyday let alone to this joint," I laughed. "It's a long walk in heels."

"I'll walk you home, sweet cheeks," a greasy man beside Greg called drunkenly.

"Maybe if you didn't go to that university in Port Angeles, you're car would make it," Greg countered. Yeah, because I looked old enough to be in college.

"Maybe if Ken paid a little better, I would have a more reliable car," I retorted, slipping my jacket off and handing it to him. "Don't let anyone spill their booze on it this time. Cost me a fortune to have it washed last time," I complained. Greg just laughed at me and slung the expensive piece of clothing I owned over the back of his chair.

It was the true fact of life that you fall back on what you know how to do best. For most people that meant that they would go back to babysitting or teaching or something like that. But when I couldn't afford to pay all my bills with my stupid part-time job down at the McDonalds, I'd fallen back at what I was good at. Sex. I was too worried about getting in trouble to sell myself out _that_ way, but I could definitely strip. That was something that men got into the older I got and the more developed I'd gotten.

It was a risk, stripping right in Forks. And being underaged. But I'd offered Ken a deal that he couldn't refuse. See, I didn't need much to get me to the break even point. I didn't need a wage like the rest of the dancers. Tips would get me through as long as there were enough people in the house. So I'd told him that he could pay me a flat fee of one hundred a month, off the record so he didn't have to worry about taxes or any shit like that. I kept all my tips and I did just fine for myself.

The cops weren't my biggest worry. No; my biggest worry was that I was getting older and so were the guys that I went to school with. One day soon, they'd show up at the club and I would have to deal with that. What would happen when they recognized me? I would get caught and kicked out; that's what would happen. And without this job, I would slowly lose all the things that I'd fought so hard to have to myself.

But I would wait to worry about that when the day finally came. No, tonight I had other stuff to do. I was walking around in five inch, leather heels that laced up my bare calves and match the rest of my "uniform." Each of us dancers had been given a personality to portray on the various theme nights. Normally, I was just the Native. There wasn't anything that needed to be special about my name. Despite Ken's numerous attempts to get me to change it, I refused. The Native was something that was generic. Anyone could be the Native. Hell, I was five miles from a Native American reservation. If anyone recognized me, there were enough women that looked like me that I could easily deny it all.

But tonight was Classics night. We were all classic characters. Jennifer was Marilyn Monroe, Patty was the Little Mermaid. And me? I was fucking Pocahontas. Because that's not stereotyping or anything. I was the only girl in the club that wasn't pasty white. I was always given ethnic roles because I was the only one who could carry them off. A hand slapped my ass, causing me to flinch internally and paste a smile on my face. I couldn't afford to lose any customers. I had my cousin's birthday coming up soon and I needed to make sure that I got her something good.

"Pocahontas," Ken's voice carried over the speaker. I worked my way through the crowd to the spotlight on the stage. It was just another night and hell to whatever music Ken chose to put on. I didn't really care either way. I'd told him a long time ago to put on whatever and give me a few beats to find the rhythm. I shimmied and twirled, crawled across the floor like I was hungry for something these men could give me. I wasn't; I don't think anything could ever make me hungry for this kind of shit again. I would never let another man touch me again. It wasn't worth it.

See people were selfish by nature. It's just a fact of life. People fight to make their lives better, regardless of who they hurt. We will shove people out of the way and watch them get trampled as long as it gets us to our ultimate goal. Why would I let anyone that close to me? People will use you, abuse you, and leave you. Once you let yourself care, that's when people leave. Just like _her_.

I fought the urge to bite the hand of the man that was sliding a few ones down the straps of my leather briefs. This was the real reason that I wore the fishnets. Ken thought it was to distract from the scar on my leg, but that was just what I let him believe. With the fishnets on, the asshole's hands would only ever touch the fabric. Maybe they would _brush_ against my skin. But the contact would be brief and I could live with that. Besides, I needed every last fucking dollar.

I was grateful when my set was over and I could sit in the back for my break. I danced a few more times, getting more money the next time and even more the last. Enough to pay the electric bill and convince the phone company to keep my cell on for another few weeks. This was a life that I wouldn't wish on anyone. But I was happier fighting for every scrap that I could get than I was with the life that I'd had before. "Get home safe," Ken slurred drunkenly. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said as the night sky started to lighten with the impending sunlight. It was only four. I could still get three hours or so.

"Night Greg," I said, ignoring Ken and walking to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow night." Of course I'd see him tomorrow.

Because this clusterfuck was my life.


	2. Chapter I

**Author's Note: Wow! Thanks for all the reviews yesterday. There are some graphic descriptions (but no nudity) in this chapter. I am letting you know that it's dark and graphic. The story is also connected to ****_The Consequences, Some Hearts but Not Mine, _****and ****_Hear No Evil._**** Any names that you see that you don't recognize would be OC imprints that have stories elsewhere. If you're interested, I would suggest looking at the others. This story can definitely be read independently though. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter I: ****_Embry's Point of View_**

The battle was over, had been for a while now. But nothing about my life was the same as it had been. See, everyone had imprints now. Literally _everyone_! And me? Well, I was the Rez rat without a dad. I had no one but my mother. I loved her to pieces, I really did. But Jake had Ryanne, Jared had Kim, Paul had Charlotte, Sam was with Emily. Even Leah had a fucking imprint. But not Embry Call. No, I wasn't really wanted by anyone. Well, except for my mother. She could have gotten rid of me before I was even a real thing.

The hardest imprint to take was Quil's. It wasn't the fact that he was imprinted on a little girl, that he was forever bound to a two-year-old, it was just the fact that I hadn't been expecting it. I mean, Sam had always been with _someone._ He'd been with Emily since I'd phased. I always knew that Paul would find someone. If Ryanne and Jake hadn't gotten together, someone would have locked them in a room together until they had sex. It just needed to happen. It was easy to see Leah with a guy that she liked. She deserved a little slice of pie. Jared and Kim were their own little pod of happiness. But Quil! Quil was my person that I could go to and talk to. Seth, Collin, and Brady were all too young to go and talk to about shit. They were like two years younger than me. And for some reason, that felt like it was way more difference than it would be in a few years.

I understood that the imprint was this great thing that gave them fulfillment or whatever. But I wasn't sure how much more I could listen to about Claire. She was a cute kid... But that's all she was to me. "Claire picked her nose. Claire dyed her hair with chalk. Claire said my name correctly today." I mean, don't get me wrong. Your best friend being imprinted on by a two-year-old had its perks. I had more pictures of Quil in tutus and makeup than I cared to admit. I was just waiting for the day that he got married and I had a chance to blackmail him.

My life hasn't been the same since the battle. All the guys went home to check on their imprints. Seth went to brag to the pups about his big kill. And me? Well I went with Jake and Ryanne to keep an eye on the girl that I called my sister for the longest time. Stupid fucking redheaded leech. Rye was lucky that she was alive, although she had nothing on Jake. He was going to make a great Alpha soon. So yeah, everyone goes to take care of their imprints and I go to babysit the imprint of my almost-dead best friend.

Which was why I had decided that we needed to get out of the Rez for a little bit. The wolf territory extended some seven miles around the borders of La Push, giving us more than enough space to catch the leeches that come through before they can actually hurt the people that we love. Just five miles outside of the official La Push border was a little strip joint. I had never been, but I was surrounded by people that were in love and I needed an out. I mean, everyone that I was good friends with was attached to their soulmate forever. Like there was no going back from this. I just needed to get away from love and be with other lonely people.

I figured that I wouldn't get carted. I was six and a half feet tall with manly features that were honed from the wolf in me. I had aged so rapidly after I had first phased, I was hardly recognizable. Besides the fact that I looked older, no one was going to fuck with some as big and broad as I was. I just had to pretend like I did this kind of thing all the time. I didn't.

I had never seen so many women in such little clothing. I mean, there were a few of them that made me want to take off my shirt and cover them up. My mother had always taught me to respect women for more than just their bodies. The problem was that all I could see around me was their bodies. I mean, ass, boobs, boobs, ass. It was just a never ending cycle. "Gentlemen, for your entertainment and pleasure, we bring you the Native," the man's voice called over the loud speaker. He sounded like some greasy scumbag that would do anything to save a buck or two.

A beautiful women stepped out on to the floor, her long leg almost mouthwatering. Why hadn't I gone to a club before? Paul had always tried to convince me, but I was too worried about getting caught by my mom. She would find an aluminum bat to beat me with if she knew that I was here. I licked my lips as she stepped into the light fully. Her skin was the same color as everyone that I had ever met down on the Rez, but it seemed to be glowing with its own honey lights as she slid herself down the pole in the center of stage.

She was wearing more than the rest of the strippers. Her pants were unbuttoned and revealed the top of some lacy leopard print thong, but they covered her legs down to her mid calf. Even with her legs covered I could tell that she had muscles that could rival even Ryanne's MMA muscles. She wasn't wearing a jacket or anything to really cover her up top but had a leopard print string bikini set that matched the thong. She wiggled and shook around a little, the light from the stage catching the jewels on her five-inch heels. I wondered how she walked, let alone danced, in the cursed things.

All at once, her pants were gone, revealing a set of legs that were beckoning me like nothing else I had ever seen. Was this how every guy felt when he went to the strip club for the first time? Probably. These girls were supposed to entice us to do the things that we weren't supposed to want to do. I mean, that's the whole point of the place.

I listened to the stupid beat start to increase in the second before she jumped up, both hands on the pole and swung herself up, her legs open in a near split. She swung around a full rotation and suddenly locked her legs around the bar, clamping tightly. I noticed then that her heels were gone and had a brief moment to wonder where they'd gone. Only a brief moment because in the next she was rocking against the metal like she was having sex with it.

I wasn't disgusted by her actions but by the guys that were grunting, groaning, and whooping their appreciated at her. She locked one knee around the silver apparatus and bent the other in the same position, grabbing the tops of her ankles and swinging around again. She slowed herself, although to be honest, I couldn't tell you how and extended one leg, managing to pull herself from upside down to vertical before I could comprehend the ways that her muscles had moved. I hadn't expected the amount of athleticism that was coming with this. I mean, no wonder her legs were to die for.

She kept the bar between her ribs and upper arm and help her legs out spread eagle, slowly descending the pole. She swung suddenly, locking the bar between her legs and hanging upside down, her muscles contracting and expanding as she continued her way down the bar. She pressed her palms flat against the floor and released the pole that she'd been using rather skillfully, pushing herself into a handstand and slipping over backwards in a split. The man next to me groaned as she shoved herself out of position. Her ass was high in the air as she bit her bottom lip and crawled across the floor towards the audience, her round breasts on display for the rest of the world to see.

I was breathless as she passed by each of the dicks beside me, each of them saying something to her, reaching out to shove some cash down her shirt and in her underwear. If you could call the scrap of lace she was wearing underwear. Her eyes locked with mine and the whole word stopped.

I saw fear flash in her eyes for a second, but I didn't understand why. I would recognize the eyes of the woman that I was looking at now. They were espresso brown with flecks of green, some so light I thought they were blue. She was staring at me as intensely as I was staring at her. I had no other desires than to kiss her, to get to know her, to make her believe that she was going to be my soulmate. I had always thought of the imprint as love at first sight, but I was wrong. I wasn't in love with her. I was captivated by her. I didn't love her. Yet. But I would. It was like there was a neon sign as bright as the one outside that was saying, "Hey doofus, this is the girl."

And then the moment was over. She'd realized that I had no money to give her and crawled onto the next guy who was barking at her. Shit. I had imprinted on a stripped. Who knows how many men had seen what was now _mine._ She may not know that she's mine yet, but she is. The guy next to me grabbed a hold of her breast as he slipped the money into her bra. She smiled, but her eyes looked disgusted, like she wanted to vomit right there on the stage. Still, she continued on her way.

I forced myself to leave, knowing that I would only end up phasing if I sat there and watched the rest of those men touch her. "Hey," I said to the bouncer as I was leaving. "What's her name?"

"The Native," he grunted.

"No, her real name."

"Nice try, man. Her name's the Native. That's the best you're going to get from me," he replied. I rolled my eyes and looked back at her. She was on the pole again, where she was clearly more comfortable. But I could see every man looking at her lustfully. I had to get out before I killed someone.

And I had to figure out who the hell she was.


	3. Chapter II

**Author's Note: Hey everyone, I'm glad to see that followers and favorites. I really enjoy the reviews. It definitely helps me think of the next chapter. I just want to remind you all that it is a ****_dark_**** story. It will, obviously, have a happy ending, but be prepared for the long haul and a lot of descriptive writing. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter II**

I wasn't ready to wake up when my alarm went off. I didn't want to move from my twin sized bed. I groaned a little, thinking that I needed to get a cat or a dog or something that would motivate me to get out of my bed. After last night, I needed a legitimate reason to get out of bed. My nightmares had finally become a reality.

Okay, not those nightmares. No, those were realities, horrific as they were, that played over and over again and haunted the little sleep that I go. I meant my worries. I had finished the first portion of the pole dance and was crawling across the stage floor to gather my tips when I caught sight of Embry Call. There was a part of me that wanted to report him to Ken, but what could I say? "Oh, hey Ken. The really tall, hot kid that looks like he could kill someone with a snap of his fingers is only like seventeen. How do I know him? Oh, yeah I go to school with him. No, he's not a genius; I'm actually in high school." Yeah; I could say that and I would just get my ass fired.

I had a brief moment of panic where I thought that Embry was going to recognize me. But like all the other guys in the club, he was just staring at my... everything. I mean really, what was I hiding in the limited clothing that I had been wearing. I had been captivated by his almost black eyes when I caught sight of them. He was just staring at me like he'd never seen light before. I swear I felt electricity zing through me at the sight of him. But he didn't have any money and he sure as hell didn't recognize me. Who was I kidding? Embry call would never remember me. We had one class together and I'm pretty sure that he had never spoken two words to me.

Okay, not necessary true. My cousin Charlie was dating Paul LaHote, who wasn't nearly as bad as I thought that he was. Embry had asked me if I knew where Paul was one morning before brunch... But other than that, he'd never said anything to me. I guys that was good for me because my unpopularity meant that he didn't have a shot in the dark of recognizing me. The joys of being the campus bitch, a title which I got to claim since Leah Clearwater had graduated.

I pushed myself out of bed, trying to think of what I could wear that would be the most inconspicuous. Eventually, I decided on a pair of men's sweatpants that I had bought at Walmart the last time that I was there. I topped it off with one of those hooded t-shirts with three quarter length sleeves. I was well aware that my legs were one of my best assets, one of things that I was most well known for at the club. So they were one of the things that I fought the most to hide when I went to school. I was glad that I worked behind a desk at McDonald's. It made sure that no one really saw me.

I pulled the pair of black, fake fur-lined boots on my feet and began the slow trek to the beach. School was out, which was driving me crazy. I had nothing to do without school. So each morning I would walk down the trails to the beach and sit there, watching the waves. So many people needed summer jobs that McDonald's had cut my hours back. During the day, I had nothing to do. And because of the stupid fucking budget cuts, La Push High School was no longer offering summer school. For me to use to catch up on the year that I had spent in court fighting for emancipation.

I jumped up onto my favorite boulder, watching the stupid people on the stop of First Cliff get ready to jump. You couldn't pay me enough money to go off that thing. Mostly because I was afraid of heights. What did people do during the summer? Hung out with friends, probably. I didn't really have friends. That was my fault, I guess. People were fundamentally bad. No one wanted to be around you because they thought it'd be fun. No, they hung out with you because they wanted something from you. I had Charlie but that was because she was my cousin.

If my Aunt Maria hadn't been such a bitch, Charlie and I would be living in the same house. Uncle Henry would have adopted me; he was well on his way to figuring out how to do it when Aunt Maria had said that she didn't want us. The court couldn't really say anything about it. They couldn't change her mind, so they decided that it was best to give me over to foster care. Care my ass. The home that they had put me in was anything but caring. At the time I had thought that it was the greatest place in the world. Anywhere that didn't require what I was used to was fantastic.

See, growing up, I didn't know anything but what I had grown up with. I went to school and figured that everyone had what I had at home. It wasn't until Marcie's eighth birthday party that I realized how fucked up my life they put me in foster care, I thought that it was the great. I was there for a few months before my father regained custody. I was stuck with him for another six years before I realized that I could get out of this. So I did. It took a year and resulted in me being held back a year in school, but I was free.

Freedom came with a price. Or I guess bills. The government gave me a stipend to help pay my bills but it wasn't nearly first, I had thought that I could work at McDonald's and it would be just fine. But the older I got, the more money I needed to have. I didn't know what to do. So I fell back on the things that I knew how to use: my boobs and my ass. That hadn't been a problem until last night.

I knew that one day, the people that I went to school with were going to start coming to the club. But I was only just seventeen, so I guess I just thought that I would have another year or so before this would be a real problem. Embry Call showing up at my work had definitely proven that theory wrong. But I had nothing else to do. I mean, I couldn't quit. I had tried that before and it hadn't worked out in my favor. "What do you think you're doing up there?" I heard someone shout. I turned around, realizing that in my musings I had pushed myself up to my feet and clambered up to a cliff that was some ten feet off the ground. It wasn't the height that was as frightening as the sharp rocks that were right below it.

Embry Call.

That would be the good samaritan that had decided to make sure that I knew where I was. I mean, I had been dangerously close to the edge of the boulder. I could have easily gone over the edge. But going over the edge would have been better than getting saved by the guy who had actually looked at me while I was stripping. "I'm fine; fuck off," I said. Usually my gruff manner got people to leave me alone. No one wanted to deal with someone that was angry all the time. I watched my step as I cautiously made my way down, but Embry was still standing there. "I thought I told you to fuck off."

I looked up to see him staring at me. I was going to look away from him but I was caught by his eyes. They were so dark, almost black, but there was a light in them that I couldn't describe. It was like staring at melting obsidian. I couldn't bring myself to look away. "It's you," he breathed. My heart dropped into my toes as recognition flashed in his eyes. "Penn?" Great, fucking great. He knew my name. Dear God, I was fully covered. How the fuck did he recognize me? "You were the stripper last night."

"Shut the fuck up! Do you want me to get arrested?" I growled, having to practically jump to get my hand over his mouth. "I don't know what you're talking about," I said when I felt his lips close under my hand.

"You're a little too late with that," he laughed. "I mean, you basically said that it was you when you freaked out." I lifted my hand from his mouth.

"I just didn't want you spreading rumors that weren't true," I said knowing that he was right. I had basically incriminated myself. "I'm not a stripper, Embry. Fuck off." He didn't move. He was still staring at my eyes. "Fine, I'll leave."

I started stomping towards my little shack in the woods, trying to avoid the fear that he would recognize me. "I know it was you!" he shouted. "Penn, talk to me!" I ignored him and kept walking. "I'm not leaving until you talk to me." So I turned around and braced myself.


	4. Chapter III

**Author's Note: I know that I'm late, but I was stuck in the hospital because stupid people wouldn't let me go until they were sure I wasn't going to die. You try to tell them that it wasn't that bad of a fall from the horse but no one cares! Stupid people. Either way, I'm just letting you all know that the story is not happy...for a long time. She's a girl with a very messed up past who has a lot to overcome. And Embry may not be to everyone's liking right now. He's trying to figure out how to help her (which can be frustrating). I'm just letting you all know what to expect. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter III**

I wheeled back around to stare at him. "What do you want? You want sex? Sorry, dancing is as far as I go," I snarled.

"So you were the stripper last night," he said. Great, I was getting myself fired.

"Fine; I was the dancer last night. Now I've told you what you wanted to hear. Will you fuck off?" I snapped. I just wanted to get back to my apartment. I could do something random before I had to go to work in the next few hours. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but anything was better than listen to someone blackmail me. He didn't move away from me. "Look, I don't do sex so if that's what you're wanting you should go find someone else. Candy will do it for the right price," I said, hoping that I could refer him and he would just leave me alone.

"You think I want sex from you?"

"Didn't I say that? Are you deaf? Because I'm fluent in sign language," I said.

"No, I'm not deaf. I just want to talk to you, Penn. I don't need anything else; I don't want anything else. I just want to talk to you," he replied.

"You don't know me and I don't know you. _I _don't want to talk to _you_. So just leave me the hell alone, okay?" I said, stepping away from him. I turned around and started walking towards my house, thinking of deviating towards my uncle's house to make sure that Embry didn't figure out where I lived. I didn't need someone thinking that they could come visit me. My house was mine; I was the one working to pay the bills. No one but Charlie was welcome. Ever. I mean, I was starting to like LaHote and I wouldn't even let him in the house. The few times that he'd been by with Charlie, I was actually enough of a bitch that I made him stand outside and wait for me and Charlie to finish inside.

A hand that felt hotter than the sun wrapped around my elbow. I reacted on instinct, which I had to learn to stop doing. I kicked back, making contact where I knew it would hurt and wrapped my hands around the large one that was on my elbow, tucking his thumb inside and pushing down on the whole hand with the threat to break his wrist. "Don't touch me," I snarled menacingly.

"Noted," he coughed out. I shoved his hand away and marched away without another word. "So how am I supposed to get to know you if you won't talk to me?"

"You're not," I said over my shoulder.

McDonald's had to be one of the worst places in the world to work. I mean, maybe in a larger city where you saw people that were actually interesting it would be better. But here? Here it was just the regulars and the occasional kids that came in. I didn't talk to my coworkers and they didn't talk to me. But it was all too soon that I was strapping on my heels and walking to the club. Ken was sitting at the door instead of Greg which was great for me. Not. It only spelled trouble.

"You have a private tonight," he said. I groaned. I hated privates. But they paid better and Ken actually gave me a part of the price instead of just y tips. It was a welcome addition to my usual cash flow. But with the recent scare with Embry, with him recognizing me, I was suddenly worried about what it would mean if I did this.

"Why don't you have one of the other girls do it? I'm not feeling it tonight," I said, stripping out of the most expensive piece of clothing that I owned and tossing it over the back of the chair that Greg would sit in.

"Can't; he asked for you specifically. Paid extra and everything," Ken said with a shrug. "He's in the swan room. I'll postpone your set." I swallowed the groan in my mouth and headed on back to the room encased in white and feathers. I took a deep breath before I pulled apart the fake feather curtains.

"Hey," I said in the seductive tone that I had figure out when I was younger. "What'll it be? Pole or lap?" The man was tall and standing at the bar. But all the bottles were still where they had been when Ken had set up that morning, so he clearly wasn't drinking.

"How about we talk?" He turned around to face me and I fought the urge to shriek at him. I grabbed a silk robe from the side of the room, suddenly self conscious about Embry seeing everything I had to offer. Not like he hadn't seen it the night before.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" I whisper yelled. I thought I told you to fuck off."

"Where are you going to go? I paid for a dance," he said when I started marching towards the curtains but had to stop when he spoke. "This is supposed to be what I want it to be. I want to talk."

"You paid like a hundred and fifty dollars to _talk_ to me?"

"And I have a tip," he said, flashing me a twenty. There was no smile on his face, which was weird to see. He always looked happy when I saw him around school and with his friends. But here, with me, he just looked like he wanted to kill someone. "Look, I won't touch. I won't even sit down. I just want to talk to you. That's all."

I mean, he was willing to spend almost two hundred dollars just to get an audience with me. And I was going to get to keep most of it. It wasn't going to hurt to listen to him jabber on and on. But he could talk. "I'm not a fucking therapist," I said, "but if you want to talk about some shit I'm all ears."

"What are you doing working in a place like this?" he asked right off the bat. I rolled my eyes.

"Pass. Better question: what's a guy like you doing in a place like this?" He seemed like he was someone that had all of their shit together. "Why not go get a fuck buddy and stay the hell out of places like this?"

"I'm not that kind of guy," he said with a shrug, his eyes still dark.

"But you're the kind of guy that will come into a strip club? Is that supposed to be comforting?" I quirked a brown and glared at him.

"Stripping isn't that far from hooking," he said, his eyes narrowing. I knew that look; it was the look of someone that was trying to cut deep.

"Yeah, well I already told you I don't do sex. So if that's what you thought you paid for, you might want to try candy land; it's the room right next to ours," I said, untying the robe a little and starting towards the doors. "And if you're wanting to talk to a girl, you might not want to insult her," I added.

"I'm sorry!" he practically shouted. "I would turn you around and say it to your face,but I like my balls better when they're not bruised," he added after a few moments of silence. I didn't turn around and look at him. I just waited. "Look, Penn; I really do want to talk to you. We've never really talked at school and I thought that maybe -"

"Will you shut up? You're going to get me fired," I hissed. He quirked an eyebrow this time. I walked over to the radio and cranked the music up before settling on the stage, my legs slightly apart as I stared at him. "They don't know I'm seventeen, okay? And if he did, he'd kick me out of here so fast, my head would spin." But that wasn't the only thing that he would kick.

"Why are you here, Penn? Really."

"It's none of your business, Embry. I can't believe that you're here. You're no older than I am," I retorted.

"What is this? Some kind of payback to your parents? Mommy and daddy too overprotective so you have to sneak out every night and 'be free'?" he questioned. I wanted to tell him that he didn't know what the hell he was talking about, that he couldn't be farther away from the truth. But lies were easier to swallow than the truth, no matter how you sugar coat it. It was easier to let people believe whatever shit they had made up in their heads. Kind of like a fucked up version of cognitive dissonance.

"Something like that," I said, fighting the urge to let the bitterness in me seep into my voice. "Your time is up. Pay the second half on the way out." I held the curtain open for him, putting my usual stage smile into play.

Embry's hand was hovering over the waistband of what you could barely call shorts as he slipped the twenty in. "Maybe you can save up to buy a heart," he said as he walked out. Yeah right, whatever heart I had left in me died years ago. But I just glared at him and waited until he was at the door to slump down on the swan-shaped couch.

"I don't pay you to sit," Ken said, his hand wrapping around my pin-straight hair and throwing me to the ground. "Your man didn't look at all satisfied when he left," he growled.

"I gave him what he asked for," I said. It was true, Embry had wanted to talk and we had done just that.

"Well next do your job better," he said, his heavy boot colliding with my ribs, "or we may have to terminate you." I flinched at the double entendre and the bruise that would undoubtedly form.

One day, I was getting away from here, from this life. One day.


	5. Chapter IV

**Author's Note: Wow! I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has set up alerts for both me and the story. I really appreciate it! The reviews are just amazing. I love seeing the reaction to the story. I hope that you all enjoy!**

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**Chapter IV:****_ Embry's Point of View_**

I couldn't believe that I was actually paying for a private dance just so I could _talk_ to my imprint. This was ridiculous. Either way, I was standing at the alcohol that was offered so that she wouldn't know that it was me. At least, not until I wanted her to. "Hey." I thought I was going to turn around and take her right then with the way that she was speaking. "What'll it be? Pole or lap?"

"How about we talk?" I said before I turned around.

She recognized me instantly and her eyes flashed fire. She was livid that I was standing in her club again. What else was I supposed to do after this afternoon? I mean I had recognized her as soon as I looked into her eyes and then she had accused me of wanting sex from her. I mean yes, I was still a guy and I still wanted sex. But not until I knew her better. I wasn't Paul or anything. "What the fuck are you doing here? I thought I told you to fuck off," she whispered, probably scared that her boss would hear her bad talking a customer.

She turned on her high heel and moved toward the ugly curtain doorway. "Where are you going to go? I paid for a dance." She turned around and glared at me, that signature look in her eyes. Damn she was beautiful. Her straight hair was framing her face, those gorgeous brown eyes glaring at me dangerously. "This is supposed to be what I want it to be. I want to talk."

"You paid like a hundred and fifty dollars to _talk_ to me?" If she only knew how much I had actually paid to get to talk to her. The conversation was dry. I kept trying to ask questions, kept trying to talk to her, kept trying to get her to stop being so fucking defensive. But it was no use. She was just angry. "Will you shut up? You're going to get me fire?" How exactly was I doing that. She turned up the music before explaining. "They don't know I'm seventeen, okay? And if he did, he'd kick me out of here so fast, my head would spin." No one was going to hurt her. Ever.

"Why are you here, Penn? Really."

"It's non of your business, Embry." Why wouldn't it be my business? She was my imprint. I was just trying to help her? Would it be so hard to her to let her guard down for five seconds? "I can't believe you're here. You're no older than I am." It wasn't the first time that night that she'd made a comment about my age, about the kind of man that came into a strip club. It was starting to piss me off. I was here to help her and all she did was insult me.

"What is this? Some kind of payback to your parents?" I saw a brief flash of defeat in her eyes that extinguished the fire, that broke her a little bit. But it was better than the hard mask that she had been hiding behind. So I kept pushing. "Mommy and daddy too over protective so you have to sneak out everything and _be free_?" I mocked. I saw the pain again and thought that I had gotten somewhere, that she would finally explain herself.

Instead the walls that I had been trying so desperately to break down came back with a vengeance. Her eyes narrowed and she looked away from me. Her nostrils flared and she sucked in a hard breath. "Something like that," she admitted. "Your time is up. Pay the second half on the way out," she said, holding the feathers apart for me. Who the hell would do this kind of thing? Her parents probably cared about her and were just trying to protect her. She should be happy that she had a mother _and_ a father.

I stepped in front of her, slipping the twenty in the waistband on her shorts. "Maybe you can save up and buy a heart," I spat. Or a conscious. She needed one or the other. She had to feel bad about something soon.

"Did you enjoy your dance?" the bouncer asked me. I got the sense that he didn't like me very much. It was probably because I had asked about Penn's real name. His job was to protect the girls from creepers and he had no way to know me from a creep. At least she had someone to look out for her around this place. There were plenty of guys that looked like they wanted to get a piece of her.

"It was fine," I said tersely. "She was fucking great."

A thick arm shot out in front of me, preventing me from moving forward. Well, not really. I could rip the arm off and get out of the club without a problem. But that would probably draw unnecessary attention to myself. "Don't hurt my girl, jackass. She don't need it from anyone else," he warned. As if it would make a difference, he cracked his knuckles against the arm of his chair.

"I got it. Thanks." The warning sent into confusion. I was glad that she had someone who really cared about her down here, someone that would look out for her. But he had made it sound like someone else was hurting her. And that wasn't okay. I needed to figure out what was hurting her and put a stop to that. She may be a bitch that was clearly missing her heart, but she was still my imprint. I would protect her at any cost.

I went straight to Paul's, remembering that I promised him that I would come there to watch after Charlie and Ari while he was on patrol that night. He was so overprotective of them. But his girls let people it, let people talk to them. Charlie! She was Penn's cousin; why hadn't I thought of it before? Charlie would be able to help me. "Hey Paul!" I shouted when I'd pushed the door open.

"Hey. Do me a favor and don't upset Charlie tonight? She's been a little crazy today," he said, clapping me on the shoulder and walking out the door. "Keep the lights off or you'll wake her up, okay?"

"I got it, man; I'm not going to wake her up," I promised, walking in and sinking to the ground in front of Charlie's bed. "Hey."

_"Hey. Where have you been?"_

"Out and about." I was good at understanding her sign language. It was responding that was problematic for me. My fingers didn't want to cooperate with my hands. So I'd decided that it was stupid to sit here and try to sign. No, Charlie would sign and I would talk back. "If I wanted to talk to you about Penn would you get upset? Because Paul doesn't want me to upset you."

_"No, why? Are you and Penn starting to hang out of something?"_

"Kind of. I'm, uh... I kind of - - Look, I," I kept stuttering.

_"Embry, will you please do me a favor and gather your thoughts before you start speaking? It's not like it's easy to understand you when you're stuttering."_

"Sorry; I imprint on Penn." I was worried about how she would react. Everyone was happy with their imprints but I knew that Paul had said that he didn't want Ariana to be imprinted on, that he didn't want her to be a part of all this supernatural bullshit. I couldn't really blame him. So now I had to wonder what Charlie was going to feel about this.

_"Good; she needs someone who is going to love her."_ I flinched. It wasn't love; I don't know if it would ever be. She was so closed off, to unwilling to be helpful in getting to know her.

"She's just some kid trying to piss her parents off. I don't know how to relate to her, Charlie." Charlie snorted and looked at me, anger that I had never seen in Charlie written across her face.

_"You don't know anything about her, Embry. And I'm not going to be the one to tell you. All I'm saying is that you should get to know her a little, maybe take a look at her life before you start making statements that you have no evidence for."_ I felt bad, having upset her like I was supposed to avoid, and having hurt my imprint without really trying. _"I'm going upstairs to sleep. Don't worry, I won't tell Paul about this."_

I guess I should've been thankful for that. Paul was obsessively protective of his family and he considered Penn a part of his family now that Charlie was a part of his family too. And she was right; I didn't know much about Penn. I didn't know _anything_ about Penn. Only that she worked in the strip club. _"Goodnight, Embry."_

I sat up and watched T.V. for the next couple of hours. Paul showed up around four, wondering where Charlie was. I made some bullshit excuse about her wanting to go upstairs with Ari. He bought it and went to go get her. Me? I phased with the intention of running through the forest to get home.

Until I came across Penn's scent. What was she doing in the forest at three in the morning? I followed the scent until she came into sight. _Who's that?_ Seth asked in my head.

Shut up, Seth. You tell anyone, you die. Clear?

_Clear._

He closed himself off from me and started running to the treaty line for his rounds. "Shit!" I turned to see her staring at me. I was in wolf form; no wonder she was scared. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you. I got some beef jerky. You want some?" I watched her dig into the pocket of her jacket and pull out some food and toss it onto the ground, slowly backing away. I followed, ignoring the food. "Please don't hurt me."

We arrived at a shack in the wood with one light on. I didn't smell anyone else there or hear any other heartbeats, but Penn was fumbling with the door. It clicked and she rushed in, not turning her back to me. She slammed it shut, several locks clicking. She didn't live alone...

Did she?


	6. Chapter V

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews. I wanted to let everyone know (without giving anything away) what the story will really be about. It's not going to be solely about Embry figuring out what happened to Penn. We're post ****_Eclipse_**** here, just to give you all just a time frame. Everything will be revealed, both Embry's secret and Penn's. But it's not just about her past or his supernaturalism. It's about Embry learning to look beyond his front door and realize that not everything is as it seems. At the same time, it's about Penn learning that what she has always thought about humanity might not necessarily be true. I hope that answers questions! Enjoy!**

**Chapter V**

For the first time since I had become an emancipated minor, I wasn't behind on a single bill. And why, may you ask? Well, as much as I was loath to admit it, Embry Call was the very reason. Every night for the last week, he had paid two hundred dollars for a private dance. And what did he want from me? To talk! All he did was ask me questions, questions that I refused to answer. He tried everything from being overly polite to being a complete jackass. But I wasn't going to answer anything he had to ask. He was just like everyone else; he would only hurt me.

But his private dances meant that I was getting paid more. He was paying $300 a night and I got half, not to mention his tip. After five nights at one fifty a night, I was caught up on my phone, electric and water. It was amazing. "Are you ever going to talk to me, Penn? Or am I just wasting money on you?" he snapped tonight.

"I told you the first night that you came down here, Embry. I don't want to talk to you or anyone else. So why don't you stop wasting your money and fuck off?" I suggested. He growled, sounding more like a dog than I would have expected, and stormed off. He stopped like he always did to pay Ken on the way out. I was just glad that I hadn't bruised after my first night with Embry. Ken had kicked me too damn hard.

We closed up a little while later and just like normal, there was a giant fucking wolf walking alone side me the entire way home. It was the same grey wolf that had seen me the other night, but he wasn't nearly as fearsome as he'd been that first night. He wasn't coming at me now. No, he just walked beside me like he was trying to make sure that I got home safely. This was day five; if the thing wanted to hurt me, it would have done something by now. So instead of walking into the house, I turned around and face the grey and black spotted beast. "Is there a reason that you're walking me home? Because I don't like strangers, animal or human," I snapped.

The wolf looked unimpressed with my display of anger. He sank down to his belly, resting his ginormous head on his large paws. "Are you tame or something?" He just looked at me, his tail wagging back and forth a little bit. "Fine, whatever; I'll bite. I already deal with one thing that can't speak. Why not add another to the mix?" I was probably delirious from working too much because I could have sworn that the dog cocked its head to the side like it was questioning me. "My cousin is deaf. She doesn't speak. But she can sign so I guess it's not the same thing, huh? But you get pretty good at guessing what people are thinking. You're not exactly a person though."

It coughed at me and I jumped back, worried that it was preparing itself for a growl or a snarl or something that was going to spell danger for me. Instead, I watched in amazement as the wolf rested back down on itself and whimpered, appearing to apologize for scaring me. "I guess I'm not better than a horse, huh? Spooking at everything around me," I whispered. It coughed again, a little quieter. "You're so big you probably eat horses for lunch." The animal shook its head like it understood what I was saying.

"I suppose you want to talk too, huh? Just like Embry," I snorted. "I've never met anyone who was willing to spend seven hundred and fifty dollars for a chance to talk with me. Shit, my dad was paid less than that for a lot of shit that would give even a wolf nightmares." The hairs on his neck stood up as he bristled and growled, jumping to his feet. I fell to the ground, immediately scared that I had said the wrong thing. "We don't have to talk about my dad; you won't hear me complaining about that."

I heard him inhale, like he was testing the air. "What am I doing? I'm talking to a fucking wolf! You probably don't understand what I'm saying, right? I'm just living in some girly fantasy where the wolf that I met out in the forest is going to listen to me and become my best friend." I slapped myself in the forehead, feeling like a stupid idiot for what I was doing. "Like I'm one to talk about being an idiot. The guy that I was telling you about thinks that he's the shit and that he knows everything about me." I snorted.

The wolf growled and took a step towards me. "Sorry, sorry; I won't insult people that you don't know." It settled back on his haunches and stared at me expectantly. The look in the eyes of the animal was something so familiar, a look that I had been seeing for the last five nights from a guy who didn't deserve to know anything about me. "You're no better than he is," I shouted, picking up a rock and throwing it so that it would hit his shoulder. Probably stupid as far as behavior towards a wild animal goes, but you know. It hadn't attacked me yet.

"You both think that you know everything and you don't!" I screamed. I didn't allow myself to yell around people. That would mean showing the emotions that I had hidden away in a drawer somewhere. So I latched on to the one that I actually allowed myself to have: anger. I had ever right to be angry. I threw another rock, hearing it thunk against his leg. "He has no idea what it feels like to be used and abused and tossed aside like nothing. He has no idea what it feels like to be stripped down to nothing, until you're just a body and not really a person. He doesn't know what it's like to fight for the right to be a human again. And you - You're just a dog. A moronic dog that seems to have this magical ability to understand me. But you should go find Embry; the two of you are clearly kindred spirits."

With the final words and another rock, I walked back towards the house and slammed the door shut. The house shuttered, the lights flickered. The signs that my life would never be as wonderful as I wished it would. I hated saying the words out loud. I hated admitting that three years later, the things that _he_ had done to me were still lingering in my heart. I couldn't breathe. Again.

I sank down against the door, fumbling in the pocket of my coat for the anti-anxiety medication I knew was there somewhere. I took the two, breathing deeply and allowing it to calm me down. And it did, to a catatonic state where I was lulling into sleep. There would be no nightmares tonight, no dreams, no terrors. There would be nothing, which was why I tried so hard not to take the damn pills. I hated them; I hated relying on something that was so dangerous. But there were days, like today, where I would admit things that I didn't want to admit and then I needed them. Like tonight... Like tonight.

A loud banging sounded at the door, light streaming in around me. I bolted upright. "Penn, I know you're in there!" Embry? What the hell was he doing here? How did he find out where I lived?

I looked down, quickly realized that I was in clothing that I had worn to dance in the night before. Embry had seen me. He already knew that I was a stripper; he didn't need to know about the rest of my fucked up-ness. I stripped out of the clothing that I was wearing and wrapped a blanket around my shoulders, pulling the front door open and kicking my heels away from his sight. "What the hell are you doing here? This is private property!" I shouted at him. Way to start off the conversation.

His face was set in a hard, cold line as he glared at me with eyes that threatened to swallow me whole. "You weren't out for your walk this morning. Charlie told me where you lived," he explained. I was going to have to kill that girl the next time that I saw her. My house was a secret place that I didn't tell people about. And it was a secret for a reason. I didn't want just anyone knowing where they could find me. "I was just trying to make sure that you were okay."

"I'm fine, Embry. Fuck off," I replied.  
"You know, you keep saying it and I haven't left yet. Why would I start now?" he snapped back, his eyes narrowing.

"I din't know, you must be stupider than I thought," I retorted. He growled at me. "What do you want?"

"To talk. I'm going broke." I snorted. I could believe that. There was only so much money a seventeen-year-old could have. "Can I come in?" Fuck no; I didn't let people into my house. It was a rule. The only people that were allowed into my home were the people that I knew cared about me... So Charlie was the only one allowed in really.

So why was I moving out of the way and holding the door open for Embry Call?


	7. Chapter VI

**Author's Note: I know that there was no update yesterday. It was my birthday and my family confiscated my computer. In the short time that I was able to get it back, I only managed to get two chapters up. Sorry, sorry, sorry. But there will be a double update on this one today. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter VI**

There had never been a man in my house... Ever. After I got my emancipation, I had moved away from the place that I called prison. If I needed to move something that was "too heavy" for me to take care of, it stayed where it was. I refused to let another men come near me. But Embry Call was breaking down my most major rule and I couldn't bring myself to stop it from happening. "It's a nice place you got here."

The happy Embry that I had known by name had disappeared. He was angry all the God damn time now. I didn't know how to react to it, actually. In the week that I had been talking to him, he'd gone from open and willing to angry and shut off. If it was supposed to be a surprise to me, it wasn't. I meant, I found it strange that he had changed so suddenly but it was just the reality of human nature. I wasn't giving him what he wanted so he started showing who he truly was. "Thanks," I replied tersely. "Not to be a complete bitch or anything, but what are you doing here?"

The ghost of a smile that had been lingering dropped. His mouth became a hard line again and his eyes darkened. "I came to check on you and maybe talk to you. Like actually talk to you; not the bullshit I've been paying for," he replied.

"I told you that you weren't going to get anything from me," I said, crossing my arms over my chest and popping one hip. "Sit your ass down; I'll get you a drink." I may be a bitch, but I wasn't a savage or anything. I was well practiced in the art of hospitality. I just put my own spin on it. I padded into the kitchen and took a minor detour to grab some capris and a tank top out of my room. I grabbed him a mug of coffee, ever grateful for the wonders of auto-start machines. "Here." I held out the cup to him, wondering if he needed cream or sugar. I didn't have either of those, but I could dig something out of the pantry if he really needed it.

"Thanks," he replied just as tense as I had been earlier. He took a sip, leaving us sitting in awkward silence while he downed his coffee. "It's good." I just nodded and avoided looking at him. "If I were to ask you questions, would you answer?"

"It hasn't worked for you so far, has it?" I retorted.

"We're not in a strip club. It's just you and me Penn. I'm trying really hard over here and you're not exactly being helpful."

"Why?"

He frowned, his brow furrowing in a way that made me hurt a little. Why should it matter to me if he was confused by something? It shouldn't. It doesn't. "Why what?"

"Why are you trying so hard? I'm not going to have sex with you, so if you think you can get to know me well enough to get in my pants you're wrong." He looked at me, anger flashing in his black eyes.

"This isn't about sex, Penn. I'm trying to get to know you. You know, like friends and all that shit," he replied.

"I'm not worth it." I didn't say it quietly; I didn't try to mask the fact that I knew what I was. There was nothing left to me; I wasn't worth anyone's time, let alone someone with the life of Embry Call. I knew what they said about him, his mom, and all that shit. But I also saw him around town with his mother. They were funny to watch, interesting to see together. He treated her like she was the ultimate authority over his life. He had that.

And I didn't.

I never would.

"I didn't peg you for one of those girls," Embry said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"What girls?" I asked, taking a long draw from my coffee.

"One of those girls who lives for the compliments, for the false modesty. The whole I'm not worth it shit so that someone will tell you that you are," he retorted, his face turning in disgust.

"You know, for someone who claims that he wants to get to know me, you run your mouth a lot. You don't know anything about me, Embry. I know what I'm worth and I'm not worth your time," I explained, although I'm pretty sure that I was the same color as a tomato. "You don't know me, Embry."

"I would if you would tell me about yourself. I mean, dear God, Penn, I'm trying. And you just don't want me."

"I don't want anyone. I don't _need_ anyone." I rose calmly and grabbed his empty mug. I stormed into the kitchen, all but throwing the cups into the sink, trying to calm myself down before I had to take anything that would throw my on my ass again. The dishes could wait.

"You really act like on, you know? Like a spoiled little princess. Mommy and Daddy gave you a great house and car and clothes and you decide to be a whore in a strip club," he said. I could see him trying to cut me deep again, but I refused to let it happen. No, instead I gathered up all the courage that I had and wheeled around to face him.

"I wasn't born into a family like yours. You want to say that your life is shit because you don't have a dad, sometimes having one is shittier than not!" I shouted at him. "I wasn't given love and nurturing like you and all your friends. The only good thing that I had going for me walked out when I was seven. I don't strip because I _want_ to. I'm an emancipated minor; I don't have anyone here to help me." His eyes went wide. "And McDonald's doesn't exactly cover all the bills. I do what I have to, to keep myself afloat."

"Penn, I - -"

"You didn't know; that's the way I like it. Now if you're finished insulting me, get out of my fucking house," I growled deeply at him. He looked hurt, but he walked out of the house, closing the door behind him.

I wanted something to throw at the door. I wanted to satisfaction of hearing something other than me breaking. Instead I just go up and walked into my backyard, knowing that tears were still streaming down my face. This kid was turning me into a fucking pansy. I don't cry because I don't talk about what had happened to me when I was little. I sank down underneath the big tree that grew in my yard, leaning my head back against the bark of the trunk.

I don't know how long I was sitting there, but a snapping of a branch brought my head up, my brain already thinking about grabbing that gardening shears right behind me. "What do you want?" I asked the wolf that was standing in front of me. It whimpered in response. "Is that supposed to be an apology? Who gives a fuck; you can't speak. I'll take it as an apology for being a douche the other night."  
It's tongue lulled out the side of his mouth with joy. He took a few steps closer while I sniffled back the tears. A rough tongue reached out and licked the salty wetness from my cheeks. "Thanks," I muttered. "You know, I think we need to give you a name if you're going to be coming around here." It sank to the ground ,tail wagging a mile an hour. I wiped a hand over my cheeks and tried to slow my tears. "How about Fluffy?" It growled and shook its head. "Oh, right; you're a boy," I laughed. I was talking to a wolf. This thing probably wanted more jerky. That was the number one rule when you lived in a forested area. You weren't supposed to feed the wild life. I had just been trying to give myself enough time to run towards the house and get inside. "You know I don't have more food; I haven't got enough money to go and get food for the rest of the month."

A low growl rumbled from his throat as if he was displeased that I didn't have any food and there were still fifteen days left of the month. I had decided to catch up on bills instead of indulging with food. "Yeah, well I had to make a choice and bills were more important than food. Now, back to the name hunt. Doug?" Another little snarl. "Buddy? Rex?" I continued. I got nothing but the little barks and snarls from him, obviously not happy with my choices. After fifteen or more stereotypical choices, I decided that I needed to get creative.

I pushed myself to my feet, holding my hand out to make sure that he knew I was coming towards him. Instead, the wolf took a few steps forward and bumped my hand with his wet nose. I brushed my fingers of his head and into the thick undercoat at his neck. He was so warm, like fluffy towels after they came out of the dryer. His fur was thick and dark grey like ash with black dots decorating his back. "Ember?" He swiveled and stared at me, almost knocking me off balance. He yipped happily. "You want to be Ember?" He started prancing around me in a happy circle. "Okay then. Ember you are."


	8. Chapter VII

**Author's Note: Okay, goodnight everyone! I hope you enjoy!**

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**Chapter VII:****_ Embry's Point of View_**

"You really act like one, you know?" I said to the back of her head. It was turning wavy again, like it had been the other night when I'd found her. "Like a spoiled little princess." It was so hard to reach her. I had tried to be nice to her, to be kind and reassuring But I only ever seemed to make progress when I threw deep blows and cut to the core. "Mommy and Daddy gave you a great house and car and clothes and you decide to be a whore in a strip club." Family was clearly the subject that got the most under her skin. It was for that reason alone that I chose to use it to get to her. I just wanted her to come to realization that someone listened to what she said.

Sadness like I had never seen before radiated off of her when she spun around to look at me. Well, she was glaring but I chose to ignore that. She was the hardest person to please. "I wasn't born into a family like yours," she spat at me. My family? It was just me and my mom. We were hardly the example of what life should be like. "I wasn't given love and nurturing like you and all your friends. The only good thing I had going for me walked out when I was seven." I thought I saw a tear glisten in her eyes but if I had, she'd pushed it away before I could react. "I don't strip because I want to," her voice broke. "I'm an emancipated minor; I don't have anyone here to help me."

That's why she was in this house all alone. That's why I never smelled anyone but her in the house. It was _just her._ She didn't have a mom to remind her to clean her room or a father to scare off boyfriends that she should have plenty of. It was just her, alone in this damn house. "And McDonald's doesn't exactly cover all the bills. I do what I have to to keep myself afloat." There were definite tears in her eyes now. She didn't have anyone there for her. She had to do all of this on her own.

"Penn, I- -" I wanted to tell her that I was so sorry for the shit that I had said. I had no right to say that to her. I didn't know her and I just kept fucking up left and right.

"You didn't know," she finished for me. "That's the way I like it." What had happened to this beautiful girl to make her feel like she couldn't trust people? I knew that it had something to do with her parents. But that was all I had going for me. "Now if you're finished insulting me, get out of my fucking house."

I couldn't be mad at her. I would kick my ass out too. I had always thought that I would be a good imprint. I liked taking care of people; it was something that I was good at. When it didn't involved Penn. I didn't know how to take care of her. I tried everything that I knew but it didn't work. She didn't want me to help her, no matter how much I could see her hurting. And then I would get frustrated, like earlier, and try to hurt her so that she would know what it felt like. And then I would realize that I was a complete and utter dick.

Each of us imprinted wolves had hurt our imprints in our own ways, just by being around them. Sam had physically hurt Emily in a way that none of us had ever come close to. Jake had chosen Bella over Ryanne for so long we could all see Rye losing herself trying to keep her emotions out of the equation. Paul didn't even realize how much it hurt Charlie that he couldn't say the three magical words. Leah had done a lot to Nate, but their relationship was kind of built off of their mutual abuse of the other. Each of us hurt our soulmates and we shouldn't be. But no one had fucked up quite like I had.

I phased as soon as I was out her front door, my self-anger exploding into a wolf with every intention of running from here to Canada. And then I heard the quiet sob. She was _crying?_ I had made her cry! Pain seared through the side of me as I realized that I was the one who had caused my imprint's pain. I circled back, following the clean scent that was only Penn to her backyard. I startled her a little when I'd been too preoccupied with her crying to pay attention. "What do you want?" Turned out she was mad at me no matter what form I was in. I whimpered, pained at the sight of the tears streaming down her face. "Is that supposed to be an apology? Who gives a fuck; you can't speak. I'll take it as an apology for being a douche the other night." Wolf me was a douche too? Damn we were in some deep shit.

Still, I was glad that she saw it as an apology. That's what I'd been hoping for. I stepped closer to her, listening to her ragged breath as she fought for control of herself. I couldn't stand the sight of her tears. She wasn't supposed to be crying. I mean, she was Penn Rivers for crying out loud. She was the kind of person that didn't give a fuck what anyone had to say about her. I licked her tears, trying to comfort her in a way that human me just couldn't figure out. "Thanks. You know, I think we need to give you a name if you're going to be coming around here."

Great, now I was her fucking pet. Whatever; I'd take it if that's what got her back to smiling. So I sank down to the ground and wagged my tail, trying to be the best dog that anyone could ever ask for. "How about Fluffy?" Fuck no. "Oh, right, you're a boy," she giggled. At least she was smiling. If only human me could figure out how to do this to her. "You know, I don't have more food," she said suddenly. Yep; that's why the huge wolf came to you. For food. "I haven't got enough money to go and get food for the rest of the month," she sighed. That wasn't good. We were only halfway through June. What was she going to eat for the rest of the month? And wasn't the whole point of stripped to help her cover her bills? "Yeah, well, I had to make a choice and bills were more important than food."

She had so many adult decisions that were thrown on her young shoulders. I mean, she was only seventeen and here she was working two jobs and going to school. I knew from helping my mother out that bills weren't cheap. My mother's business provided most of our money, but she also worked while I was at school. I couldn't imagine how difficult it was to balance both. Penn quickly announced that it was time to return to the name search, obviously unhappy with the way that things were going. She didn't like to talk about her personal life. Even with a wolf.

It wasn't until nearly half an hour later than she got up the courage to touch me. "Ember?" I thought for a moment that she was going to say my name, that telling her about the wolves and imprint was going to be easy. And hearing her say my name when she wasn't angry at me was the greatest thing that I had ever heard. I stared at her, wishing that she could have changed the ending and just said my name. Just once after she'd hated me so much earlier. "You want to be Ember?" she asked me incredulously. I was just glad that a part of me was being asked to hang around her. "Okay then, Ember you are."

She yawned, clearly exhausted. "You should teach Embry a thing of two about listening, Ember," she yawned again, her mouth stretching wide. "And maybe smiling. He doesn't do that anymore either," she chuckled at her own joke. I frowned but laid down on my belly and crawled closer towards her. "Come on," she said, patting the ground next to her. I rushed back behind her and laid along the length of her body. She wasn't going to nap inside? Like on a couch or in her bed? "When I was younger, I didn't have a bed," she breathed, sinking deeper into my warmth. "When I got my own bed I was so excited. But it's so big that sometimes I can't sleep in it," she admitted. _Embry_ would never get to know this information. She was right; Ember could teach me a few things. "That and the fact that it's so soft."

She opened her mouth like there was more that she wanted to say, but her heart rate slowed down almost instantly and she drifted off to sleep. I rested my head over her body, resting my jaw on her waist and holding her possessively, more like a wolf than a man. She was right. The wolf in me knew what he was doing and he would be able to keep the man in me from getting frustrated. I just had to listen to him because what I was doing clearly wasn't working.

Time to formulate a new strategy.


	9. Chapter VIII

**Author's Note: Okay, I know it's been like two whole days. You guys would not believe how bad I feel about that. I'm trying to get more consistent about my updates again. I didn't even have my computer yesterday. I'm really really sorry. I could right you an entire chapter of apologies but I'm sure you would all rather read than listen to me. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter VIII**

Ember nudged me awake a little while later, knocking his cold nose into my shoulder. He whimpered when I grumbled and tried to snuggle back into his warmth. I didn't know that any animal could be as warm as he was. Finally, I roused myself enough to recognize that I would get better sleep for the night if I went inside and slept on the couch. The bed was too big, too cold, too lonely. But I could sleep on the couch; that would make me comfy without having me feel like something was going to kill me any moment. Then again, that's how I felt about everything whenever I was alone. "You coming?" I asked the wolf when I reached the back door. The sliding glass door was open wide, wide enough for the beast to make his way through if he ducked his head a little.

His ears perked up a little, like he was surprised that I had offered him the chance to come into the house. He followed me almost immediately after I vacated the doorway. Like the dog that he is, he circled a spot on the ground beneath the couch that I was curled up on. I reached down to stroke the soft fur at his neck. He reached his head out to lick my hand, earning a squeal from me. "I swear on my life if you pee in this house I will kill you," I threatened drowsily. The beast started coughing. I think he was laughing, but I was too tired to really focus on that.

When I next work up to get ready for work, Ember had walked out the door that I had left open in case he had to pee. I had vague memory of something rough scraping against my cheek and a wet nose pressing against my collarbone. Naturally I would find the wild animal that needed to be a pet. I wanted to take care of him, to buy him all the things that a pet dog should have. But I could barely afford enough food to keep myself fed everyday; you could forget adding a dog into the mix.

I danced that night, just like I always did. Embry, having discovered part of my dirty past, was no where to be found. There was a part of me that was glad that he had finally figured out what I had always known. There was nothing left to me; I was stripped down to nothing. If I ever showed any emotion, it was anger. So yeah, I'm glad that Embry had learned that he needed to fuck off. But the larger part of me was sad. I couldn't explain why I was so upset that I didn't see him that night. Fuck, I couldn't even tell you when I'd started looking forward to seeing him at the club every night. I was a little put out when I realized that he didn't have a private dance that night. But I pushed past the disappointment that I shouldn't feel, finished my set, and walked home. Ember followed me as usual, but he didn't come in. I slept on the ground next to my bed, not wanting to sleep in my own bed. This shit with Embry was effecting me more than I should be letting it.

I took my walk, the same as I did most every morning, and clambered to the top of the boulders by the cliff. "Penn!" It was warming to see him, but I didn't it to be. The smile that had been bubbling on my lips quickly fell into a straight line. He was just like everyone else; he was only trying to get close enough to me to get what he wanted. And then he would walk away. "Good morning," he said seriously. He practically jumped up to the top rock, plopping down beside me.

"What are you doing here?" I snapped. Easiest way to avoid being hurt was to make sure that no one wanted to get close enough to hurt you. I could be a complete asshole and he would walk away. All my problems, save the minor tugging on my heart, would be solved.

"I came to see you," he whispered, turning to face me. He wasn't smiling, but then again, I hadn't seen him smile since the first day that I met him officially.

"You want to talk?" I laugh rudely. "Isn't that what you always want?"

"Not if you don't want to," he replied with a shrug.

"Excuse me?"

"I think I've been doing all of this kind of backwards," he said wrapping on strong arm around the knee that was bent and dangling his other leg over the edge of the rock. "I keep trying to get you to talk to me because I think that it's what you should be doing. I should have been paying more attention to what you wanted." What I want has never mattered to anyone but Charlie. She's the only one who actually gives a fuck about me. "I want to be your friend, Penn. I don't know how to get to that point with you."

"I don't have friends," I said, jerking my chin up and daring him to say something about it.

"So I can be the first," he retorted. "I keep trying to get you to open up and that's wrong of me. I shouldn't be trying to force you, Penn. So we can talk when you're ready." I frowned and stared out over the ocean, trying to ignore the man beside me. He didn't say another word, just sat there watching the sunrise with me. I stared at him out of the corner of my eye, waiting for him to decide that he didn't want to wait for me to open up; that I wasn't worth jack shit.

"Are you going to sit here in fucking silence?" I snapped at him. "Just going to sit here?"

"Yes, Penn. You want me to talk to you, you ask the questions," he said kindly. His mouth was still in a straight line and there wasn't much emotion showing in his face. But his tone was still gentle when he spoke, like he didn't want to spook me.

I chewed on the inside of my lip, hoping that he would just go away before I had to open my mouth. I couldn't tell you how long we sat there, basking in the little warmth that the sun provided in the early morning. By the time I decided that he'd been patient and proven that he wasn't going to walk away, the sun was already climbing high in the sky. He hadn't left yet, but I could make him. "Why me?" I said suddenly.

"What?"

"Why me? Why do you want to get to know me?" I repeated.

"Why not you?"

"Because there are plenty of other girls on the Rez that are dying for your little gang's attention. _If_ all you want from me is friendship, why not go find some other girl?"

"There's something different about you, Penn. I don't know what it is; I don't know you. But I want to," he replied. "And all the other girls in the tribe are great but none of them are you, Penn."

I don't know what I was expecting to hear from him or why his response upset me so much, but it did. "So you chose Penn fucking Rivers as your charity case and now nothing will change your mind?" I asked defensively. Push people away and they can't hurt you. The cold reality of life. I knew the things to say that would hurt people, that would make them walk away from me. You push, they push back twice as hard.

Embry's chest rose high as he sucked in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, the air leaking out of him in a slow controlled fashion, like a tire slowly deflating. The anger that had been bubbling in his cheeks and forcing his hands to shake slowly fell too until he was just sitting there next to me like he had been the entire morning. "You're not a charity case, Penn. And I know better than to think that anyone could ever be in charge of you," he whispered quietly. "But I do want to get to know you, Penn. Nothing can change my mind about getting to know you. One way or another." There was a hidden tone to his voice that sounded like he knew more than he was telling me.

Before I had much of a chance to analyze it though, he had jumped down from the rock. "Would it be okay if I walked you home?" he asked. I cocked my head to the side and stared at him. Why was he so hard to figure out? One moment he was acting like he hated me, like I was the bane of his existence. In the next moment, he was acting like I was the sole purpose for his existence. One moment he was ordering me around; the next he was leaving all the decisions up to me. "You _can_ say no, Penn," he said suddenly.

I shook my head and inhaled a tremulous breath that I hoped he didn't hear. "It's fine; you can walk me home," I said. What the fuck was I saying? I popped off the rock and landed lightly in the sand. Embry extended a hand to me that I just stared at.

"You don't have to," he said quietly. I bit my lip and shook my head. I couldn't do it. He dropped his hand, not looking at all upset by the fact that I had said no. "Let's go." His lips twitched a little as he walked right next to me.


	10. Chapter IX

**Author's Note: I'm glad that you are all enjoying the direction that we're going with the story. I hope you enjoy tonight's chapter!**

**Chapter IX:****_ Embry's Point of View_**

It had only been a week and a half since I had decided that I would let Penn be in charge of our "relationship." But it felt like years. Every morning, I would meet her on the cliffs and sit next to her in silence, trying not to push her. Most mornings, she would ask normal questions about work and school and all the normal things. I don't know if she was just curious or if the imprint was starting to act on her, but she was getting increasingly curious about me.

I had told her that I worked in my mom's little road side shop that was just off the highway and still on La Push Reservation, trying to hint that she should apply to the job opening that my mother had. For as smart as the girl was, she didn't seem to understand that I was offering her a job. I knew that I could tell my mother to hire Penn. No one else had applied. And if she needed another job to cover her bills, five. But I didn't want it to be stripping. It was the thing that I struggled with the most, actually. It was really hard to know that there were fifty-some-odd guys that saw my imprint half naked every night of her life.

I went and watched her three nights a week, but I never watched. I couldn't bring myself to do that. I knew Penn, or I was getting there. I was getting to see her as a person, not the stripper. She was completely different when she was up there. I mean, she fought against letting people in either way. But Penn the Native didn't let me see that she was a human like Penn Rivers did. So I went to her shows and stared at the tiles behind the bar, counting them three times a week to make sure that she was protected. It was my job to protect my imprint. After she finished her set, I would phase and sit outside the club, waiting rather impatiently for her to walk home.

She knew _Ember_ now. Every single time that she said the pet name, I thought that she might be calling me by my name. She liked Ember, though. Embry, he was clearly still up for debate. But I got to be close to her in some way or another and that was all I really wanted. So I would wait for her to leave the strip club and meet her a little ways away. I knew that it was stupid to think that she would be able to recognize me once I was in wolf form, but it was a legitimate fear that I had. I thought that she might take a good look at me and realize that Ember had the same eyes as Embry. So I waited a mile away from the club to meet her and walk her home.

I don't know what she thought happened, but she would invite me into the house and crash on her vouch. It was hard to see her restless would moan and groan and toss and turn and there was nothing I could do to help her. I was too afraid to phase out and calm her as a human and wolf me only managed to wake her up and hear her whispered apologies before she rolled over and went back to sleep.

She would always wake up right after I was out the back door. I camped outside in the backyard, still a wolf, and made sure that she closed and locked the back door. And then we would repeat the entire routine again the next day. But tonight was different. There was something different about the guys that were in the front row. I watched her flinch and then turn a sickly, sweet smile on the man that grabbed her ass. It took everything in me not to turn and rip the head off of a man touching my imprint. I needed to get her another job. This was going to kill me soon.

So the next morning, I popped up onto the rocks next to her and whispered the same greeting that I did every day. "I have a question for you today," I said quietly. "If you want to answer, that is." She rolled her eyes at me and turned her gaze towards me instead of giving me a straight answer. "If I could get you another job would you stop stripping?"

"I'm not a charity case, Embry. I thought you knew that about me," she replied.

"I know that you don't want to strip, Penn. I just thought that maybe we could find you a better job to work," I tried to explain. She bit her lip and looked away. "What did I say wrong?" I asked, immediately alarmed. After a week and a half, I couldn't screw this up. We were making progress.

"You didn't say anything wrong, Embry," she whispered. "It was bound to happen eventually."

"What are you talking about?"

"You can just say it," she snapped. Shit; we were back to defensiveness. "I know that I'm not worth it as a friend, okay? I'm a stripper; I'm a whore. You've said it yourself, remember?" The words hit me like red hot shards. I had said those words to her, although I had never told her that she wasn't worth it. I just didn't know her.

"Penn, it has nothing to do with you or your job," I said. "No matter how many times you say it, I'm always going to think that you're worth it. That's not what I was talking about, though. I was just thinking about you. You work during the day and then you work all night. I was just thinking that maybe we could find you a job that would help you out and cut down on your hours."

"Oh," she said, looking down at the rocks. "You don't have to worry about me, Embry. It's fine," she whispered. "It's always been this way for me."

"I don't want it to be this way. As a friend, I'm just caring about you. I know that you can have it better than what you think you can have, Penn," I insisted.

"If I wanted to work one job, I would need to make like fifteen bucks an hour and I would need to work full time," she said like it was supposed to deter me.

"Great," I replied with a smile. "I think I have a job for you."

"Oh yeah?" she asked indignantly. "Where?"

"My mom's store; she'll pay you sixteen an hour and we're looking for someone to work full time," I lied. But her face shuttered. For the first time since I had known her, her face wasn't angry. In fact, she looked like she had just seen a ghost. Her eyes were wide and her lip was trembling again.

"I don't do parents, Embry," she whispered. "I'm an emancipated minor, remember? I don't have parents around," she reminded me. I wanted to ask her, to know more about what she had grown up with. I just couldn't do it. I knew that it would probably end everything that I had been working to build with her.

"My mom doesn't do kids; it'll work out great," I replied.

"You're a kid," she pointed out. "I'm serious. I don't do parents."

"You used to say that you wouldn't do people," I retorted. I was sitting there staring at her, hoping that I wasn't going to scare her away. "Penn, you said yourself that you don't want to strip. We've talked about it before. I'm just giving you another option. That's all." She looked away from me like she was considering what I was saying.

"You just don't understand, okay? We... I can't quiet my job, Embry. I've tried before. I can't," she repeated. I felt like there was something wrong, something that I was understanding. But I just nodded, trying to keep from scaring her away from me. It was only a week and she was already telling me things. I couldn't lose this. I had never worked at anything as hard as I was working at this relationship with Penn.

"Will you come and give an interview? Maybe my mom can just hire you for the summer or something? Get you some extra money," I tried. She sighed and looked away from me again but finally nodded. I grabbed her hand and wrote down the address for the store on her hand."I'll see you real soon." She nodded and jumped down, waiting for me. Thank to Lord for progress. I watched her disappear into the forest and then sprinted home and into my mother's room. "Mom!I found you someone," I shouted.

"What are you talking bout Embry?" she asked, sitting on the corner of the couch with her laptop.

"I found you someone to work at the store. And you're going to pay her my pay too," I explained.

"Why?" She was shocked that I would give up my prized eight an hour.

"It's a long story; I'll explain later. Come on, we got to go!" She laughed at me, muttering something about me being childish and followed me out the door and into the car.

Penn was about to meet my mother.


	11. Chapter X

**Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think. I'm kind of nervous about this chapter. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter X**

What the hell was I thinking? There was no way Embry could find me a job that would beat McDonalds and the strip club. I mean, I was just being stupid when I said that I needed a fifteen-dollar-an-hour job. Those kinds of things didn't exist. But now I was standing in my bedroom with every nice shirt that I owned spread out around me. I had never met a parent before in my entire life. Okay, that wasn't true. I had met plenty of parents before. Mostly fathers under circumstances that I was pretty sure were illegal. "What the hell am I supposed to wear?" I moaned, flopping down on the bed.

There was a part of my brain that didn't care about anything to do with this. I told myself that it didn't really matter what Embry and his mother thought of me. But there was one major problem with all of that. I _did_ want Embry as a friend. I had never had one of those before, not other than Charlie. She was my best friend and she always would be. She would always be the person that I knew I could go to about anything. But Charlie was building a life with Paul and his sister, moving on from the sheltered existence that she had always known. It was time for me to do the same... Well, not the _same_ same. I wouldn't ever be the girl with the husband and the kids and the wedding and the perfect life. It was, however, time for me to meet another person that I could talk to. And I think three weeks was enough time for Embry to prove that he was willing to get to know me for me and not a stripper.

So, I decided on being myself. That was what I had always been. I wasn't going to try to change myself because I was meeting his mother. So I pulled on a pair of bermuda shorts that fell to the knee and a tank top that floated away from my body ever so slightly, finishing the whole thing off with a pair of flat laced tennis shoes. I didn't do much with my hair besides tie it in a low ponytail. That was all I really knew how to do with it outside from straightening it for work. I sighed and licked my lips, not looking at myself in the mirror as I walked out the door.

I followed the directions that I'd found online to address that Embry had written down on my hand. Well, sort of. I didn't like the idea of going through the darker side of town where the streetlights didn't work. It was loser to the strip club. As a general rule, I avoided all areas around the club when I wasn't working. I was too worried about someone realizing who I was. So I was walking through town, trying to avoid the looks that I was sure I was getting. Sometimes it felt like everyone was staring, like there was a big neon sign that said "Look at her. Her soul is gone." So I looked down at the dirt in front of me or glared at the people around me. Anything to make sure that I wasn't going to be approached.

"Penn!" The sound of his voice made my heart stutter a little. It really shouldn't be doing that; I'm amazed I still have a heart since I didn't really feel anything anymore. Or, at least, I didn't. "What are you doing? I thought you were coming to meet my mom?"

"I was," I promised him, trying not to look at him in his eyes. If I looked at those black-brown eyes, I wouldn't be able to get this out. "I, uh... My car doesn't really work that well. It gets me to school and back but other than that I walk. I didn't want to walk on the other side of town," I whispered. "I thought it would be a little safer this way."

"You should have texted me. I could have given you a ride," he chastised. "Come on," he said. He held out his hand like he did every day. "My house is this way and it will save my mother a trip." His house? I hadn't been to anyone else's house before. My father had always said that I wasn't allowed to go. He said that my big friends would come and visit me at night. "Come on," he repeated. I stared down at the hand that he held out to me, trying to keep the fear from showing on my face. With a shuddering breath and a shaking heart, I slipped my hand into his.

I could have sworn that he sucked in a tight breath, but the hissing sound was so quiet, it could have been anything really. The large, hot hand engulfed mine, but it wasn't stern or forceful. No; it was gentle and warm. His thumb stroked over the back of my hand as he walked me towards the house. He didn't tighten his grip or try to get my fingers to hold his back any more than they already were. His grasp on me was secure and safe, unlike anything I had ever felt before. In fact, I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a man touch me as gently as he was doing.

He led me up to a house that look at little intimidating, if you asked me. It wasn't that something was scary about the house. Actually, it was just the opposite. There were roses growing along the stone pathway that led to the front door. The large bay windows had hedges growing underneath them. The house itself looked like a log cabin with dark green shingles and a bright red door with sunflowers growing on either side of the door, matching the bright yellow roses that were growing. It was happy, homey, exactly what a family home should have been. "Embry, wait," I whispered, panic clawing at my throat.

This would be it. This would be the thing that made him realize that I was nothing. I couldn't do this. I couldn't meet his mother. She would realize that I was nothing more than an orphan who was fighting to make her life something livable. She would be able to see that her son deserved better than a friend like me. "It's okay, Penn," he replied, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I can't," I muttered, staring at the house that was like everything that I had ever dreamed about. "She doesn't even know me."

"She doesn't need to; she knows that you're my friend," he said. I looked away from him, trying not to show him how scared I was. "She's looking for someone to work for her. And even if she wasn't, I would have introduced you to her at some point. She's going to love you, Penn," he promised. I was already shaking my head. I couldn't be loved; it wasn't possible. Especially not by a parent that had raised someone as good as Embry. "Will you please tell me?"

"Tell you what?" I whispered.

"Why you don't think that you can do this." I sniffed in the hopes that I wouldn't have to answer him. "Please; I'm just trying to help you."

I sighed. He had been nothing but patient with me for the last couple of weeks. I mean, even in the beginning with the stripping when he was more of a jackass, he kept coming back to me and hoping that I would be different each time. And every single time that I was a bitch to him, he turned back and came back. "I'm not the," I stopped and tried to think of a way to say that I wasn't worthy of walking in that house without revealing too much about my past. He didn't need another reason to run away. "I didn't grow up with a normal kind of family, Embry. I don't know what that's like," I managed to say.

There. That wasn't any information that he didn't already know about me. I had told him once before that I didn't grow up with the same kind of family that he did. "It's only ever been my mom and me, Penn. We're not exactly a normal kind of family. She's not going to ask you anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. And if she does, you just have to say something to me," he said. "We're not a normal kind of family," he repeated. I licked my lips and looked down at our joined hands. What was this boy doing to me? I sighed, trying to regain my composure. I didn't want to be dependent on anyone. But I couldn't bring myself to walk into that house angry and alone.

"Will you stay with me?" I said. Honestly, I didn't think that I had spoken loud enough for him to hear me. He was staring me like I had just given him the winning numbers to the lottery.

"I'll stay with you until you tell me to leave, Penn," he promised. I nodded again and again, taking a deep breath to steady my heart. "You good?" I nodded again, a little steadier this time. His hand squeezed mine again and I couldn't fight how good it felt. "Let's go."


	12. Chapter XI

**Author's Note: Happy Memorial day (although a day late) to all the brave people who serve our country. You will never be forgotten. I hope you all enjoy tonight's chapter! Thank you for the reviews, follows, and favorites. Love and Thanks!**

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**Chapter XI:****_ Embry's Point of View_**

I offered my hand out every single day. But the truth was that I had given up on her taking it before I'd even put it out there the first time. She would look at my hand and then glare at me like I had personally offended her. She was trying to explain why she was walking out of her way to get to the shop. "You should have texted me." It was like six miles to the store, way too far for her to walk in my opinion. "I could have give you a ride. Come on." I stuck my hand out, waiting for her to start walking ahead of me. "My house is this way and it will save my mother a trip." There was a flash of fear that I had never seen before in her eyes, like the prospect of going into a house was terrifying. "Come on."

She started the normal staring routine again. I was just about to drop my hand, wanting to leave everything up to her, when her hand touched mine. I could feel scars in the lines and ridges in her hand sliding against my callouses. She was actually holding my hand. I drew in a startled breath but was still conscious enough to keep it quiet. I didn't want to scare her away by knowing how great it felt to hold her hand in mine.

I kept my touch light, willing to let her pull her hand away if she freaked out on me. The backside of her hand was so smooth, I couldn't help myself. I ran my thumb over the silkiness, trying to keep my heart from beating so loudly that she could hear it. Her fingers were loosely wrapped around my hand, like she was afraid to actually hold me. If I didn't start walking, I was going to end up trying to force her to talk to me again. Waiting for her to talk to me was working about better for the both of us.

She pulled me to a stop as soon as we reached the house. "Embry wait." There was a panic to her that I had never imagined seeing in the eyes of Penn Rivers. I'm not going to lie; I hated seeing it. I was glad to see an emotion that wasn't anger, but the fear that she had going on was almost worse. Especially since it was _my_ home that was causing her to be so afraid.

"It's okay, Penn," I promised her, squeezing her hand lightly. She tensed a little but the look on her face didn't change. I wanted to ask her what she was afraid of, but I knew that she would only walk away if I did. She didn't like to show fear.

"I can't," she whispered, staring at the house like it was a monster about to swallow her whole. "She doesn't even know me." She was honestly afraid of my mother?

"She doesn't need to. She knows that you're my friend." Apparently that wasn't what she needed to hear. She looked away from me completely, trying to hide the fright that I could feel clawing at my own heart. Thank God for the imprint bond. "She's looking for someone to work for her." She just had to think of this like a job interview. It wasn't about meeting my mother. But I was so excited for her to meet my mom, to become a bigger part of my life. "And even if she wasn't, I would have introduced you to her at some point. She's going to love you, Penn." She looked completely unconvinced, like she couldn't do this. "Will you please tell me?" I begged.

"Tell you what?" She still hadn't made a move to pull her hand away. I was going to relish this while I had it because it would only be a few moments before she realized that she was actually letting me touch her.

"Why you don't think that you can do this." She looked away and sniffed, but she didn't answer. "Please," I begged, clenching my fingers around her hand a little. "I'm just trying to help you."

She exhaled and looked down at the ground, her eyes darting from side to side as she debated whether or not she wanted me to know anything about her. "I'm not the -" The what? I hated when she did that. I wanted to know about her, everything about her. But she was so careful, so afraid of doing something that would drive me away. I wished that I could tell her about the imprint so that she would understand that I would never leave her. Finally, she opened her mouth again. "I didn't grow up with a normal kind of family, Embry. I don't know what that's like." I didn't know either.

It had always been me and my mother. I didn't even know who my father was. "It's only ever been my mom and me, Penn. We're not exactly a normal kind of family. She's not going to ask you anything that makes you feel uncomfortable." I had told my mother to be gentle with Penn, to be careful of what she asked her. The last thing I needed was Penn, who was already fearful of meeting a parent, to get scared. "And if she does, you just have to say something to me," I added to make sure that she knew that everything would be okay. "We're not a normal kind of family."

The fingers that were tucked safely in my fist tightened their grip on my skin a little and my heart leapt. We were making progress! I mean, it honestly felt like ages since I had left everything up to her about us. The gentle assault on her was wearing down on me. I just wanted to make sure that I didn't lose her. "Will you stay with me?" she whispered barely audibly. I think I may have stopped breathing when her milk chocolate eyes met mine.

"I'll stay with you until you tell me to leave, Penn," I swore. It was the best that I had to offer her. She nodded like she had been for the last little while. "You good?" Again, just a nod, but she did seem a little bit sturdier. "Let's go."

I walked up the stone steps of the house and pushed the door open, my arm behind me a little. I felt her other hand come to rest on my forearm, just below the smooth skin of my elbow. "Mom, Penn's here with me," I called into the house.

"I'm just finishing up some of the goodies for the store." Penn's entire form went rigid, her hands clinging to mine without embarrassment this time. Her heart was racing and her breathing was shaky as she listened to my mother speaking. "Go ahead and wait in the living room. I'll come in with tea," she shouted back. I tugged Penn a little deeper into the house.

"Do you drink tea?" I asked her. She looked like she had just stared death in the face. "My mom makes good hot chocolate if you'd rather," I said, leading her to the couch and tugging her down to sit beside me. I was shocked when she sat close enough to press her thigh against mine, her back straight as a poker. "Penn," I implored. "Penn, look at me." She did, her eyes a little wild and scared. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you Penn. Trust me," I begged her. She nodded stiffly. "If you don't relax, I'll kiss you," I threatened.

The indignant look that I loved sparked in her eyes. One day, I was going to kiss her. I promised myself that much. But I wouldn't do such a thing until she was okay again. She looked so afraid of her surroundings. I wondered when she had last been a guest in someone's home. But any thought I had to ask her was ruined when my mother walked in with her serving tray.

On a normal day, I would have stood and relieved her over the tray. But my imprint had her nails digging into the flesh on the back of my hand. I was afraid to leave her side for a moment; she might bolt. I met my mother's gaze, watching her nod just a little, acknowledging that she understood that I couldn't leave her. "Hi, you must be Penn," Mom said, setting the tray down on the coffee table. "I'm Lucy," she added, sticking her hand out to Penn.

I had never seen the girl so vulnerable. I had never seen _a_ girl so vulnerable. She looked like someone was going to kill her at any moment. "Penn," she whispered, removing her hand from my forearm and placing it in my mother's hand. "Embry said that you were looking for someone to start working for you," she said.

Once they started talking about business, Penn's spine slouched a little. She accepted a cup of hot tea from my mother, but her hand still didn't leave mine. She was shocked to find that the job paid just as much as I had promised. They seemed to be getting along well, but she still didn't take her hand away from mine. They kept talking, jabbering on and on until I heard the most amazing sound that I had ever heard in my entire life.

Penn laughed.

She legitimately giggled about something that my mother had been saying. The rest of the conversation was lost on me when I heard her start chuckling. I just kept staring at her, watching her become more of a human than I had seen in the last few weeks. "Why don't you stay for dinner? Embry can drive you home, right Em?" Mom asked me, pulling my attention away from the beauty beside me. "And then you and I can talk about your work schedule and when you can start." She had taken the job? When had she done that? Damn I needed to get my brain on straight if I was going to have dinner with her. "I'll go grab my steak out of the oven. Embry will show you to the table."

Mom disappeared with a sweep of her skirt and disappeared into our tiny kitchen. Penn kept her hand in mine but placed her teacup back on its saucer before I led her the short distance to the dining room. "Hey Embry?" I turned towards her with a hummed response. "Thank you for this."

Yeah; this was progress.


	13. Chapter XII

**Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. You all have no idea how much I love them. I know that it's been a little slow, but it will be picking up in the next few chapters. Enjoy for now!**

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**Chapter XII**

"Mom, Penn's here with me," Embry shouted into the house. I wanted to duck my head and cover my ears at the noise. It wasn't even that loud, but I was so damn scared. It was ridiculous. This woman was probably all smiles and warmth. I probably had nothing to worry about. But damn was it ever hard not to hold onto Embry. He was so fucking warm and there was something about holding his hand that just felt good. I didn't feel threatened or like I was going to get hurt.

"I'm just finishing up some of the goodies for the store." She even sounded like a mom. Like the storybook mom, too. The one that probably made cookies for her kids and sat with them while the did their homework. The kind of mom that I wanted. I gripped Embry's hand for dear life, probably cutting off the blood flow to his hand. He didn't seem to notice though. "Go ahead and wait in the living room. I'll come in with tea." Great; she was the kind of mom that made tea and cookies. Could she seriously be any more perfect?

"Do you drink tea?" Embry asked me. This would be it. His mom was absolutely perfect. She would take one look at me and my problems and realize that I was nothing she wanted her son around. And I would lose the only friend that I had ever made. Why was the prospect of losing him so fucking bad? Why did it make me think that I was going to rip apart what little piece of my heart was still beating? "My mom makes good hot chocolate if you'd rather." I could feel him pulling on my arm, a cushion sinking underneath my weight. Of course his mother made hot chocolate. And she probably didn't make the powder shit. "Penn," he said sternly. I didn't want to look at him. By now he had to have realized what a bad idea this was. "Penn look at me."

So I turned to face him. I was never one to play the coward for very long. He would probably say something nice like he wouldn't mind if I wanted to leave. It was understandable. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you, Penn," he said in a deep voice that sent shivers down my spine. I had never had anyone say that to me before. "Trust me." Maybe just this once. "If you don't relax, I'll kiss you." Like hell he would. I was never going to let another man put his lips on me anywhere ever again. The clinking of fine china brought my head around to stare at the woman walking through the door.

She was broad shouldered and hipped. She head a healthy, plump, motherly look about her. She clearly wasn't afraid to eat. And the smell of whatever pastries she'd made said that she knew a thing or two about cooking as well. She looked like everything that I had ever dreamed about in a mother personified. Maybe it was the stereotypical Native American look or maybe it was just my wishful thinking, but I couldn't help but think that she looked an awful lot like my mother. Thinking of _her_ sent tremors down my body and caused me to cling to the only thing holding me in the present. Embry. Damn this boy. "Hi, you must be Penn." She stooped to place the tea and chocolate croissants on the cherrywood coffee table. "I'm Lucy." She offered her hand out to me. I had already done this once today. And Embry had promised that he wouldn't let anything hurt me.

"Penn," I whispered. Idiot! She already knew that. She smiled at me anyways, though; like I hadn't made a complete fool of myself. "Embry said that you were looking for someone to start working for you," I added, trying to alleviate some of the tension between us. Embry didn't seem to be feeling any tension. He kept his eyes on the breads in front of us while his mother handed each of us some tea.

"I am," she proclaimed proudly. "This one," she jerked a thumb towards Embry, "has been getting busier and busier. I'm flexible. I understand that you both are in school. School comes first, no matter what." I nodded. "I'm very strict about grades," she said. "After Embry failed that English class a few years ago, I have been a little crazier." I looked over to see if Embry had noticed that his mother had just revealed that he had failed the class that we were taking together. But the daft man was just staring at me, a slight smile playing on his lips. His eyes, however, seemed to be fixed on my face. He was searching me for any signs of distress. I wasn't at all worried about his mother. She reminded me so much of my own.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, he's doing really well now," I said. Lucy smiled at me and laughed.

"It's hard to do worse once you've gotten an F," she said seriously. I smiled at her in return. "We can work around whatever you need me to work around. And you can start as soon as you're ready. That is if you want the job." I smiled at her. "I'm not sure how much Embry told you, but I pay my student workers sixteen dollars an hour." I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped to the ground. She shot Embry a look. He nodded a little; I don't think he realized that I saw the motion. "You all don't get to work many hours and I think that it's important for you guys to get as much money as you can in the short amount of time that you can work."

He wasn't lying. His mother was being serious. This job was seriously going to pay me double the minimum wage. "You're going to have to tell me how you get this boy to shut up. He talks my ear off all damn day. And usually about the most ridiculous things. I can't get him to shut up if my life depends on it." I smiled again. "When he was a little kid, I thought he might speak Vietnamese. He would chatter on and one in his own little language that I never understood. I my goodness, it was horrendous." She imitated the face that he would make and the typical sounds associated wit the asiatic languages.

"What is it that you're wanting someone to do, Ms. Call?"

"Lucy, sweetie," she corrected. "I run a little store on the outer edges of town. We usually get the truckers that are making their way down from Canada," she explained. "I sell homemade foods and goodies. A lot of these men have been on the road for ages. They eat the stupid fast food and stop for gas; they're lucky if they eat anything that isn't covered in grease. I just need a cashier and a stockman. I'll do all the baking; you just have to keep everything up to date in the back of the store and take inventory."

"I think that I can do that for you," I replied. I looked over at Embry. He still hadn't moved a muscle.

"I haven't seen him this still since he was three," Lucy said. I turned my face back to her. "I brought him home from the park and told him that it was time for a nap," she began immediately. I was really going to hear stories about his childhood? I guess it only gave me more ammunition to embarrass him with. "He fought with me and argued the whole way home. Finally he asked me if his friends could sleep with him? I told him that Jake and Quil had gone home with their own parents for nap time, but he just asked me again. I figured it was imaginary friends, which I didn't care about. I told him fine and led him to his room.

"It wasn't until he started screaming that I realized who his _friends_ were. Normally, he would wake up and then let me know he was awake, but he usually didn't scream. He had kept daddy-longlegs in his pocket. And the ones that had survived the tossing and turning that he does when he sleeps had crawled into his hair to get away. He screamed so loud, I thought he might be dying," she began laughing. I couldn't help it; I started laughing. It was hard to imagine someone that was as big as Embry Call screaming because there were spiders in his hair. His eyes went wide as I giggled, using my teacup to cover my mouth and my tea to smother my sound. "Why don't you stay for dinner? Embry can drive you home, right Em?" He shook his head like he was clearly his brain of muddled thoughts and nodded. "And then you and I can talk about your work schedule and when you can start."

Embry must have lost his train of thought while Lucy and I were speaking because he looked completely confused. "I'll go grab the steak out of the oven. Embry will show you to the table." I smiled at her, unable to believe that I was actually enjoying myself.

"Hey Embry?" I said, knowing that I was going to have to let go of him soon. "Thanks for this," I whispered.

"Anytime, Penn," he promised. He pulled my seat out for me. I wanted to hold his hand again, to feel the warmth spreading through my veins again.

"Maybe you could - -" What the hell was I saying? This was such a bad idea! Stop brain, stop! "I have some laundry to do at home later tonight. I usually watch a movie or something while I fold." Shut up! This was such a bad idea. The last time I had invited him into my home it hadn't ended well for either of us. "Would you maybe like to watch with me? I mean, while I fold, of course." I looked down at my lap.

A gentle warmth spread up my hand and caused me to look at Embry. His hand was resting on top of the two that I had clasped in my lap. "Sounds good," he said quietly. He looked up as his mom walked through the door with two crystal serving dishes in her hands. "I'm looking forward to it."

What the fuck was I doing? And why did it seem so okay?


	14. Chapter XIII

**Author's Note: I know that I'm a terrible person for not having a chapter up yesterday. But my mom had surgery and I was stuck in the hospital for the day. I apologize! But I hope you enjoy tonight's chapter. Love the reviews and thanks for reading!**

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**Chapter XIII**

Lucy had been more than kind when I asked for a week before I could start. I could quit McDonald's easily enough. But I wasn't lying when I told Embry that I _couldn't_ quit the club. Ken would never allow it. Still, I had another job that was going to pay more than my two jobs combined. Currently, I worked almost seventy hours a week and barely made it for my house payment every month. I made almost four hundred and fifty a week. I could cut down to forty hours a week no and still make more working for Lucy.

After I helped Lucy with the dishes, ignoring Embry's stares while we talked about nothing in particular. I thanked her for dinner and was even more grateful when she didn't try to hug me at the end of the night. I had a feeling that Embry had warned her about my hatred of being touched. "I'll be home later tonight, Mom," he said, kissing her cheek. "Penn and I are going to watch a movie."

"Back by one," she commanded sternly. He nodded and promised her he would be, offering me his hand again. I couldn't help myself; it felt so damn good to have his hand swallowing mine. I was breaking all my own rules when I slipped my hand into his for the second time. He looked at me like I had grown a second head, but held me just the same as he had before. His grip on my fingers was gentle and lose. I could pull my hand away at any time. The major problem was that I didn't _want_ to pull away.

Embry held the car door open for me when we got there. He played music on the way to my home which was surprisingly good. I never knew the kid would like _Red_ and _Red Jumpsuit Apparatus._ But he sang along with every single word, tapping his fingers to the beat as we went. When he finally turned the engine off out front of my little forest shack, I couldn't believe that I had actually invited him over. Last time he was here, it hadn't exactly gone well. I chomped on the inside of my lip as I tried to assess my situation. "I can just drop you off," he said suddenly. I hadn't realized that he'd been staring at me.

"What?"

"If you don't want me to stay, I can just drop you off," he explained. His gaze fell the console between the two of us. "Last time I was in your house, I was kind of a dick, Penn. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want me to stay."

"You weren't _kind of_ a dick; you were a dick," I corrected, feeling more like myself than I had all day. "But you invited me into your home and did the whole host shit. It's only fair that I do the same."

"If you're sure," he said cautiously. I shrugged.

"It's not like we're just going to be hanging out; I have laundry to do," I said so that he wouldn't forget what I was supposed to be doing; so that _I_ wouldn't forget what I was supposed to be doing.

"I don't mind," he promised, pushing open his door. I swear he was inhuman. He made it to my door before I had even opened the door. He pulled it for me and swept his arm out in a wide gesture. "After you."

I had cleaned my house earlier that morning, before I went on my walk, so I knew it was clean. And it was my night off from the club so I didn't have anywhere to go. I held the door open for Embry and smiled shyly at him. His lips twitched, but the bright smile that I had seen at school still wasn't there. What did I have to do to get that back? And why the hell was it so important that I go it back? "I could give you a tour," I said, my fingers nails biting nervously into my palm as I looked up at him. "It's not very big. Nothing like your house," I admitted sheepishly. "But it's home."

His lips twitched again and he nodded. I walked him through the small tile entry and into the wide living room. He'd been there before, but I was actually awake this time. The house was clean, my work clothes weren't scattered all over the places this time. "So, uh, this is the living room. And through that archway is the kitchen." I walked him from the white painted room to the bright yellow kitchen. "I, um... I like color," I whispered. The appliances were all black, the counters and cabinets white, but my walls were sunshine yellow. It made me happier when I had to spend a few hours cooking. "And then this is the bathroom," I whispered, opening the door on the adjacent wall. The bathroom was black tiled floors and white walls with stainless steel everything. But the towels were oranges and greens and yellows and pinks.

"Did you do all of this yourself?" he asked. I ducked and probably blushed, but nodded. "How do you do all this, Penn?" he said quietly.

"What do you mean?" I whispered. I was so worried about what he might be meaning. The words were innocent enough, but I couldn't help but feel the judgement. Whether he meant it or not, I still felt like he was asking me about my past.

"How did you choose all the colors and stuff like that?" he asked. He was looking at me with such questioning that I didn't know what to say. I mean, if I was him, I would have given up on a girl like me ages ago. And if I was trying to be friends with someone that was as shitty to me as I am to Embry, I would have snapped and walked away.

But Embry was patience personified. He wanted to know about my past, I could see it in his eyes. And yet, he had never come out and asked me about it or even hinted that I needed to tell him. "The house that I grew up in was kind of weird," I whispered. He put up with so much of my shit. The least I could do was tell him _a little_ about myself. "It was really dirty with this dingy carpet and brown walls. It was kind of stained and I - - um - - I slept on the floor because I didn't have a room." I didn't want to meet his eyes when I revealed the little piece of information about myself. "When I got my own place," I rushed forward, "I wanted it to be a home. I wanted it to be somewhere that I could go without feeling like it was anything like the place that I grew up in."

"It's really happy," he said. I looked up at him to find him smiling slightly as he looked around at the artwork on the walls. "Where'd you buy the paintings?"

"They're mine," I muttered. "I should go get the laundry," I added when I saw him opening his mouth.

I brushed by him and opened the neat garage where my little Jeep sat pathetically. I had so much work that I needed done on that damn thing but I couldn't afford it just yet. "Did you just say those were yours?" he demanded, following me into the garage. "I didn't know you had a car."

"Yeah," I said, stooping and grabbing my laundry basket. "It gets me to school and back but it doesn't really have enough life left to get me anywhere but to school."

"What's wrong with it?" he asked, caressing the smooth body of the Jeep Wrangler like it was a dog or a horse.

I snorted. "I paid someone like four hundred dollars to tell me that. He said a whole bunch of shit that I didn't know about and then told me that it was going to cost me like two thousand dollars to get it fixed to where I could really use it again," I explained. "Come on; I'll let you pick the movie," I quickly added. He left the car with a sigh but followed me to the couch. I pointed out the movies and let him do all the work. He picked out _Lockout_ which was one of my favorite movies. Damn if it wasn't funny shit to watch.

"You know," Embry began when I was about a quarter of the way through the basket, "I'm pretty good with cars. I could fix up your car for you," he said.

"I can't afford anything for it, Embry," I admitted. "That's why I strip, remember?" His face darkened as I reminded him about my job.

"I'm not asking for money, Penn. I can get all the things that you need for it," he promised. He smiled a little. "I was just thinking that I could help you a little."

"You seriously want to fix my car for free?"

"As long as I can leave the stuff that I'm using in your garage," he clarified. "It'd be too hard to move everything around." He was going to need to come back. If he was going to fix my car, he was going to have to be around much more often.

"Okay," I said. "I'm supposed to be doing chores, jackass," I said when I could feel the blush creeping into my cheeks. "Watch your movie." He did as I asked, focusing completely on the main characters sarcastic struggle with the stubborn woman in the movie. I just continued grabbing clothes from the hamper and folding, focusing on the movie as I went.

I was just about finished with my laundry when I heard the rumbling snore from the other end of the couch. I looked over to find Embry's head lying back on the couch, his barely-there snores sounding in the room. It wasn't very late and I was tempted to wake him up and tease him about falling asleep when I saw the dark smudges of exhaustion underneath his eyes. I knew that look well; I fought to cover up those circles on my own face every morning. I had some other chores that I could be working on. And he looked like he could sleep a little bit longer.

I eased myself off the couch and moved into the one room that I hadn't shown him: my bedroom. The walls were bright blue, the cut outs I had built in front of my desk a dark purple. I walked straight to them and started putting my clothes away. I was quick and walking by the kitchen when I noticed that the man had slipped off his shoes and was stretch out along the length of my long couch. Well, not really stretched. He was curled a little, trying to fit his long frame on the sofa.

I can't name the feeling that bubbled up inside me. All I know is that I immediately dropped my hamper and grabbed the light afghan from the love seat and draped it over his form. He could sleep while I worked and he could sleep comfortably. My hand lingered of its own accord over his sleeping side. "Good night, Embry," I muttered.


	15. Chapter XIV

**Author's Note: I just want to thank all the new favorites and followers. I really love getting to see so many people getting into the story. I also was to thank all the lovely people who review. It really means a lot when I see how much you guys care. ****ChristmasRose96:**** I wanted to address your review. Yes; it was supposed to be Embry. Thank you sooooooo much for catching that. I post for four different stories everyday so sometimes my brain gets a little confused. Sorry about that. Thanks for reading! Enjoy everyone!**

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**Chapter XIV: ****_Embry's Point of View_**

I don't think I had ever gone from town to Penn's little house in the woods. I normally went from the strip club or the beach. It was a little weird for me try to figure it out, but I had and I don't think Penn realized that it was a little difficult for me. I turned off the engine of my car and looked over at her. She was so beautiful, her hair a little wavy, her lips lush and plump. But her eyes were guarded again, her lips unnaturally bent in as she chewed on the inside of her mouth. She was scared, regretting inviting me over. "I can just drop you off," I whispered.

It hurt to say the words. I wanted to be welcomed in her home. I wanted her to feel like she could talk to me about anything. I wanted her to know that I was always going to be here for her. "What?" she asked, coming out of her daze and looking at me with a neutral expression. I suppose neutral was better than the blind hatred that I had received for a few weeks when we first met.

"If you don't want me to stay, I can just drop you off," I repeated. I _needed_ her to understand that everything about us was up to her. If she didn't want me to be with her, then I wouldn't stay here. I would risk any advances that we had made in our relationship. "Last time I was in your house, I was kind of a dick, Penn. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want me to stay." It wasn't an apology, but then again, I don't think Penn cared. Her eyes glinted with mischief.

"You weren't _kind of_ a dick; you were a dick," she said, her lips twitching with suppressed laughter. She made up some excuse me inviting her into my home so it was only fair that she allowed me into hers. I was still hesitant, but I wanted to go into her house so badly. She showed off the house a little, giving me a brief but shy tour of the house. It was well cared for and very well painted.

"Did you do all of this yourself?" I asked her. She turned about as her towels in the bathroom and nodded. "How do you do all of this Penn?"

The shutters dropped over her eyes again. "What do you mean?" she whispered quietly. I was wanting to ask how she painted all the things by herself, how she handled being an emancipated minor. She'd been on her own for so long. But I could see the fear in her eyes. I was glad that she was showing her emotions and not just disdain.

I was afraid that she was going to leave me out of her emotions if I didn't rephrase the question. "How did you choose all the colors and stuff like that?" I amended.

I could see her mentally debating, like she wasn't sure what she should be saying right now. She sucked in a deep shaky breath. "The house that I grew up in was kind of weird," she breathed. "It was really dirty with this dingy carpet and brown walls." Well that would explain the whites and yellows. Anything to pull her mind away from her childhood. "It was kind of stand and I - um - I slept on the floor because I didn't have a room," she admitted. Her eyes were downcast and if I wasn't sure that it would scare her shitless, I would have pulled her into my arms.

I wasn't stupid enough to think that this was all she wasn't telling me; but it was a step in the right direction. I was getting to find out more about her. "When I got my own place, I wanted it to be a home. I wanted it to be somewhere that I could go without feeling like it was anything like the place that I grew up in." I just wanted to find the little girl that was still in there. I knew that it was. The Penn Rivers that had felt betrayed and all that was still in her somewhere. And once I found her, I was sure that I would unlock every secret that she was hiding. I just wanted to protect her. She didn't deserve the pain that she had gone through. And even if I didn't know what it was, I knew that this girl didn't deserve whatever hurts she'd had. I wanted to heal her.

"It's really happy," I finally said. I looked around the house to find paintings of wildflowers and landscapes hanging on her walls. "Where'd you buy these paintings?" I asked, wondering if I couldn't find the artist and buy her one someday.

"They're mine," she said nonchalantly. She said something about laundry, but I didn't really hear her. I just followed her out to the garage where she was grabbing laundry. I asked if they were hers again and she just confirmed it. It was then I saw the navy blue Jeep Wrangler sitting in front of us. "It gets me to school and back, but it doesn't really have enough life to get me anywhere but to school." I wanted to ask her how she'd gotten all the way to Forks for Charlie's swimming once upon a time, but I didn't want to let her know just how much I knew about her schedule because of Charlie's imprint.

As she was describing what was wrong with it, it sounded like the engine was going to die any moment. The school was only a mile or two away and even at it's worst, the swimming hall was only ten miles away on the backroads. It meant that she could go slow, that she could avoid pushing the car over thirty. God forbid she ever tried to take the piece of junk on the highway. It would probably die instantly. She led me back in the house, saying that I could pick the movie for her. I picked _Lockout_, hoping that she would like it. I mean, she must like it if she had it in the house with her.

There weren't a lot of things that I could fix for her but I knew cars. And while I wouldn't have any money coming in after she started her job, Jake was always up for a new challenge. And in the worst case scenario, I could as Ryanne for help and have her help me convince Jake. I could fix her car. "You know, I'm pretty good with cars. I could fix up your car for you," I said, swallowing the yawn on my lips.

"I can't afford anything for it, Embry," she said in a soft whisper. "That's why I strip, remember?" I was well aware of _why_ she stripped. I could only fix so many things at a time. I was working on the stripping and now I was going to start the car. Pretty soon I would get around to the heart. One day.

"I'm not asking for money, Penn. I can get all the thing that you need for it," I sapped. "I was just thinking that I could help you a little." Her eyes narrowed.

"You seriously want to fix my car for free?" she asked cautiously.

"As long as I can leave the stuff that I'm using in your garage." That would get me over here more. Jake had to help me. I wanted this imprint and I had to figure out how to get it. "It'd be too hard to move everything around," I explained. She narrowed her eyes like she didn't quite believe me.

"Okay," she replied. Seriously? One little white lie was all it took for Embry to be invited in the house. Ember came in whenever he wanted, but Embry was actually being asked to come over more often. She said something about having to do her chores and told me to watch my movie. I was working on that, but as the woman was being sent off in her little escape pod, the world around me faded to black.

When I next woke up, a crocheted blanket was folded over my body, keeping me comfortable and happy. I pried my eyes open to see Penn standing in the kitchen, testing something that was bubbling on a pot. I was in her house and I was sleeping. I was only going to have so much time with my imprint and falling asleep wasn't the way to spend it. "I didn't mean to fall asleep," I said, rubbing a tired hand over my face. "Sorry."

"It's okay," she whispered, sending a shy smiled my way. "I had some chores to get done anyways." Yeah, but I was planning on keep her company while she worked, not sleeping on her couch like a bozo. "I called your mom and let her know that you fell asleep," she added. "I didn't want to wake you." So she cared? If she didn't, she wouldn't have called mom for me. Damn we were making progress for sure. She turned her stove off and removed whatever was in her pot from the heat and walked through the archway. "Can I ask a favor of you?" she whispered, sinking down on the couch next to me.

Anything. "Sure," I whispered. "What's up?"

"I... I, um, I know that I started to tell you about my home life but I haven't really told anyone before," she admitted. "Like, not even Charlie." I tried to keep my eyes from widening. Charlie said that Penn'd had a hard life but she never gave the details. Could it be because she didn't exactly know the specifics? "Could you just do me a favor and not tell anyone? Please," she muttered.

I thought I was going to jump for joy right then and there. "Absolutely," I promised. "I - uh - I have a question for you, though, Penn," I whispered.

"Shoot."

"Will you tell me about your childhood one day?" If she said no I would accept that. I just wanted to know if it was every going to be a possibility. She looked down at the couch and bit her lip. "You don't have to tell me now. You don't even have to tell me if you don't want to. I was just curious." I was trying to quickly backtrack so that she wouldn't get scared away. I had to treat her like she was young horse. I tried to do everything I could to make sure that she wasn't feeling pressured.

"I understand that," she muttered, still looking down. "I - - I don't know if I can ever tell you, Embry. It's not something that I talk about," she whispered. I nodded in understanding. "But I can tell you that if I do want to talk about it, I'll talk to you."

I think I might have stopped breathing. I might have died for a moment or two. "Really?" I asked quietly. She wanted to tell me before she told someone else?

"You're my only friend, remember?" she said with a smile.

"So we're friends now?" She looked away from me again but nodded. "Good. I'm glad." She looked up at me with a scared little smile on her face. "Hey, Penn, when are you quitting the strip club?" I asked. I wanted her to say that I could take her right now, that she would go down there and quiet now.

"Embry, you don't understand. I _can't_." Fear flashed in her eyes again, but it was different from when she'd been about to walk into my house. This wasn't some deep seeded childhood issue that we would have to work through. This was something that scared her in a completely different way. "I literally cannot quit that job."


	16. Chapter XV

**Author's Note: Thank you for all the love and support. I know that there was a chapter posted earlier today, but I owed you guys a double since I didn't get one up last night. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy!**

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**Chapter XV**

Embry had not said anything about me quitting my job the rest of the night. He only said that if he could help me, I just had to let him know. He didn't understand what would happen to me if I tried to quit that job. I just thanked him and told him I would take care of it. The problem was that I was actually hoping that I could just hide my working at the club from him. I could tell him that I had quit and still work. I couldn't risk quitting.

He'd left shortly after. I had walked him to the front door and held it open from him, letting him out. He'd turned around the moment he was across the threshold and gently taken my hand in his. I had promised myself that I would never allow another man to touch me, but there was something about _Embry's_ touch that was completely different. It provided comfort, security, all the things that I had never known about. He gave me a gentle squeeze, pulling me one stumbled step forward. "Good night, Penn," he'd whispered, his breath fanning out of my face. I'm relatively sure that I made some kind of response. At least I hoped so.

He was only gone about an hour when Ember showed up. I had been working in the bathroom, trying to clean up everything there, when the wolf walked in. I umped a little when I saw him sitting on my living room floor, having walked through the dog door I used as a sliding glass door. I pressed a hand to my chest and tried to calm my heart. "You scared me," I muttered. The wolf whimpered like he felt bad for what he'd done. "At least bark or something next time," I scolded.

His gaze drifted across the room, stopping at the two glasses on the coffee table. He cocked his head to the side and looked at me. I grabbed the two cups and padded off to the kitchen. "Embry came over tonight," I began. I liked talking to Ember. He gave response, he made motions that conveyed his thoughts and feelings, but I never had any fear that he would tell someone or judge me for the things that I said. At the mention of Embry's name, the wolf sat upright and cocked his head to the side. "I know that I said that I didn't like him... But I think that may have been a little premature," I whispered.

The dog yipped in question. "Well, he found me a job that pays amazingly. And he said that he could fix my car. I met his mom today," I explained. "She reminded me a lot of mine." The wolf's head cocked to the opposite side, a quiet bark sounding through the house. I walked up to a picture frame that I had turned down. I lifted it to reveal a woman that looked so similar to me that I could barely stand to look at him.

I placed the frame on the coffee table and watched Ember take a few steps forward. I plopped down on the ground beside him and sighed. "That's my mom," I said. I never talked about her. "I don't really remember much about her; she left when I was seven." The giant beast's head was swiveled towards me. He sank down to his belly, his large paws a few inches from my knees. He slowly lowered his head to my lap, looking up at me as if to ask permission. I stroked his head and scratched a little behind his ears before continuing my story. "What I do remember is that she was so much fun. She used to make all the bad things that happened disappear. She used to make it so that the only time that I was afraid was at night, when the monsters came out." He whimpered again, but I ignored it.

"She left all of the sudden, one day. I went to school, but got sent home because one of the teachers saw my bruise." He growled this time, the sound vibrating against my thighs as he threatened his unknown foe. "All of her things were gone when I had snuck out of the principal's office and walked home. And all she left was this," I whispered, pulling the back off the picture frame and plucking the crumbled paper from the background. This wolf was so intelligent, he probably could read. But instead of laying it out, I held it in front of me, feeling my throat close at the sight of her delicate script.

I really needed to stop hanging out with Embry. He was turning my emotions on again and that was a dangerous thing to have when you had so many things to fight.

"_Dear Penelope, I know that you are confused that I have left. I love you sweetheart. And that's why I had to leave,"_ I read aloud. Ember whimpered again, digging his head into my lap as a means of comfort. _"If you are a good girl, he'll be kinder to you, Penelope. Just be the good little girl that I know you are." _I stroked a hand over Ember's ears again. _"I want you to remember me like I was, sweet girl. Don't let anything you hear change your memory of me. I love you forever, Mommy."_

It was short, but when you were only seven, those few sentences seemed like they were pages long. Hell, ten years later it still seemed like pages. Each letter hung heavy on my heart, reminding me of the fact that she had left. I laid the letter aside, missing Ember's warmth when he lifted his head and stared at me. His rough tongue reached out and licked my cheek affectionately. He rested the end of his giant muzzle on my shoulder. "We had always talked about leaving together to get away from him," I whispered. "I just never thought that she would go without me."

He stepped closed and managed to wrap his whole head around my shoulders and tugged until I was snuggled against his warm, furry chest. His large head bowed so that it was a pseudo hug, a half embrace that was meant to comfort. That feeling that I'd had with Embry one an hour earlier coursed through my veins again. But this wasn't a man; this was an animal that couldn't tell anyone human about me. This was safe.

So I wrapped my arms around his thick neck and sank into his embrace. A purr rumbled in his chest and against my ear, his fur tickling my skin. "Embry wants me to quit stripping," I whispered after a few comfortable minutes in silent. He sank down to his belly again and I stretched out beside him. This was a dog; I was talking to a dog. "You don't have flees do you?" I asked, remembering that he was in fact a while animal. He balked and shook his head adamantly. "Just checking, geez," I said. "Don't get your fur all matted."

Eyes that looked remarkably human regarded me with a bored expression. "He doesn't know, he doesn't understand. I _can't_ quit that job." He growled quietly and then barked, demanding an answer to his unasked questions. "The owner of the club, Ken... He beats on us whenever we're bad. We can't quit. He _owns_ us," I whispered. How was I to explain to Embry that I sold my soul to the devil for enough money to keep my house? "I wasn't there back then, but a few of the older girls told me about a girl that tried to quit. She - - she disappeared," I admitted. "They say that we can't quit. Ken says that we can't leave him. We're his girls. He'll kill us. He threatened one of the dancer's daughter once." Ember growled loudly. I pulled away in fear. He was still a wild animal. He could turn on me at any moment.

I sat up and shoved myself way from him. Ember sank down onto his stomach again and rested his head on his paws, his eyes sad as he looked at me. He whined in that high pitched doggy way and crawled toward me. I watched him wearily, afraid that he might snap. He cried again, his eyes growing more depressed by the moment. I couldn't take it. I slowly made my way back to him. "It's okay," I whispered, hoping that he was apologizing. "I don't know if you're trying to say sorry or what, but apology accepted." His ears twitched a little at the words. "And there's nothing that we can do about Ken. I can't quit." He growled again, but not as threateningly as before, probably fearful or how I would react. "He knows that I don't care about what happens to me... But I have my cousin, my uncle, and - - - And Embry."

He sat upright and stared at me with another quizzical expression. "He's my friend now. I like that, but it sucks for him. I can't quit my job. Ken will come after everything that I care about." I yawned, not wanting to think about it anymore. "I can't," I muttered.

I curled myself in a ball between Ember's legs, feeling his head fall over my waist. It wasn't very often that I slept on the ground with him, but I really liked it. I didn't need a blanket, I didn't feel like I needed to lock my doors. I had a giant, horse-sized dog that was going to protect me from anything and everything. "Good night, Embry," I whispered. The wolf went completely still behind me, but I felt his chest vibrating again. "I meant Ember," I correct. "Sorry."


	17. Chapter XVI

**Author's Note: I know that it's been two whole days since I updated this story and I'm really really really sorry. I don't even know how to tell you guys how sorry I am. As much as I love writing, family comes first and I've needed to be there for my mother the last few days. Anyways, enjoy!**

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**Chapter XVI**

Ember was gone when I woke up...in my bed. Clearly I had woken up long enough to close the back door and move myself to my bedroom. I peeked at the clock that hung above the coffee pot, the first thing that I saw every morning when I woke up. Shit; I was going to miss my walk with Embry if I didn't get my shit together soon. I booked it to my room and pulled my favorite pair of sweatpants on, finding a lightweight long sleeved shirt that I had on the ground. I poured the black coffee into a travel mug and all but sprinted out of the house...

And into Embry.

He had a slight smile on his lips, more than usual. His hand was held up in a fist, poised for a knock. "Good morning," he greeted, laughter lurking in the depths of his dark eyes. "You in a hurry to get somewhere?" I bit my lip and tried to stop the blush that was creeping up my cheeks. I doubt I was very successful; it wasn't exactly something that people could control.

"I was trying to get out of the house to meet you," I said quietly. I couldn't tell you when our morning walk had become so important to me, but missing it wasn't an option for me. "I thought I was going to be late," I admitted.

"You _are_ late," he replied. I groaned. "That's why I was coming down here to get you," he explained. "You ready to go?" His hand was held out to me like it had been the previous day when we were walking to his house. I stared at him and bit my lip. I was relying too much on him; I put too much of myself out there when I was with him. His hand began to drop and I looked at his face. He didn't look at all put out but the disappointment that knifed through me definitely hurt. I stepped forward before his hand was fully at his side and slipped my hand in his, feeling the rough friction I felt when our callouses slid along each other. He looked over at me, his eyes seeming to ask me if I was sure. I was.

He pried the coffee from my hand with a laugh, sniffing at the bitter brew. His nose crinkled in disgust. "How do you drink this stuff?" he laughed. "I'm pretty sure that's dangerous for your health." He set it down on the little table that was sitting on the small porch that I had. I groaned and pouted. "Something tells me you have more hiding somewhere." True; true.

I stepped closer to his side, unsure what to do with my other hand. Finally, I decided to slip my left hand into the pocket of my jeans. Embry's hand swung loosely by his side, but I was more focused on the hand that was wrapped around mine. He was so warm, so soft and at the same moment, he was so hard. As much as I was afraid of letting myself go completely, there was something about Embry that was secure. I felt like I could tell him everything about myself, all the old hurts that I had buried ages ago. I felt like I could explain all of that to him and he wouldn't judge me, wouldn't hate me, wouldn't leave me

But I was afraid. He could still let me go, decide that I was too much trouble. I was a broken person, the shell of what a person should be, and it would only make sense for embry to want to leave me. I wouldn't expected anything less from him. And even while I thought the words, the air rushed out of my lungs and my heart stopped for a brief second. "You okay?" Embry asked, looking down at me with a look of concern I had never encountered before.

"I'm fine," I whispered. If I had spoken any louder, I probably would've sounded breathless. As if was, I was kind of out of air.

Embry led me to our little rock, but he didn't let go of my hand. I smiled inside my head. I really wanted to be friends with this kid. I really, really liked this guy and the fact that he didn't seem to want to let me go made me feel any better. I sat closer to him than I had any of the days before. My thigh was pressed up against his, but he didn't really seem to mind. He rested our wrists on his knee, his thumb stroking over the skin on the back of my hand. "I wanted to talk to you about something," he said after we'd been settled for a few moments. I looked up at him. "And if you don't want to answer, you don't have to. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or anything."

"What are we going to talk about that would make me so uncomfortable, Embry?" I said quietly.

"The strip club," he replied. I stopped breathing. I wondered if maybe he hadn't been gone when I had told Ember, but that was ridiculous. I bit my upper lip and pulled it down into my mouth. "Penn, I really wish that you would just quit the job. Please," he begged. "My mom is ready for you to start working as soon as you are and I just..." He took a deep breath and looked down at me. "I want you to be happy and I think that you'll be happiest if you aren't working there."

"I think you missed the part of our conversation where I told you that I cannot quit that job, Embry," I muttered. He was right; I would be happiest if I wasn't working at the club. It was the only part of my life that still held abuse. I mean, I couldn't do anything wrong without ending up with a kick in the gut or a cracked rib.

"Penn, _why_ can't you quit that job?" he asked. I felt the goosebumps down my arms and the wetness burnings the back of my eyes. My lips trembled by I pushed them together in a tight line so that Embry didn't see them. "Penn, you can tell me anything," he promised. "Please; I just want to help you."

I sighed; I wanted to tell him. But I couldn't. If I told him, he would be at risk. Ken knew everything about our lives but he didn't know how important Embry was to me. He was one of the first people that I had ever met who looked at me and not at the things that I said to keep people away from me. He was a great friend; the only person that wasn't related to me who actually cared. I shook my head. "I can't tell you, Embry. I really can't," I whispered. God knows that I wanted to; I wanted someone to know about Ken and what he did. But I couldn't tell Embry. I couldn't put him in danger.

He sighed, but his thumb continued to stroke over my skin. "My mom liked you," he said suddenly. I turned to look up at him, worried that I was going to see anger and hurt. Instead, all I saw was acceptance. He winked at me a little bit and his lips tweaked in a smile. He wasn't going to push it any more. "She's really excited for you to start working for her."

"She was really nice. A lot like my mom used to be," I whispered, still worried about what Embry was thinking. It shouldn't matter to me; it really shouldn't matter to me. But in the last almost month, Embry had come to mean a lot more to me than I ever thought a stranger could. "My mom would have liked you," I offered him. He should get a little something from me. There was only so much that I had to offer him. My mom wasn't someone that I was generally comfortable talking about, but I could do it. She was gone, she was the past. Ken...the club...the rules, those were the present and the future. Mom was gone and she wasn't coming back. "She left when I was seven," I added in the same quiet voice.

"That what you meant that day, when you said the only good thing that you had left?" he asked in a voice that was just as quiet as mine had been. I nodded.

"I don't really know what happened to her," I admitted. "She was the person that kind of balanced out everything in my life when I was little. And then one morning, I woke up and she said that she couldn't drive me to school or walk me to the bus stop. I walked, but I got sent home because of - -" I sighed as I tried to figure out how to tell him about the beginning of the abuse, how easy it was for me even through the hardness back then.

"Because of some stuff," he filled in for me. I looked up at him to see if he was mocking me, but he winked at me when I met his eyes. He was giving me a break, giving me permission to not tell him.

"Yeah. When I came home that day, she was gone. All of her things were gone, even the pictures of her that used to hang on the walls. It was like she was removing herself from the world, trying to get out of my memory. I kept one, though," I whispered, feeling the emotions of abandonment well up in me again. "It was one of her with ice cream all over her face and back when I was little, my father didn't want it out in the house. It wasn't good enough." Embry frowned with I mentioned my dad. He probably didn't think that I had one. "I kept it under my bed so that he wouldn't take it. And now... After she left, I... It's the only thing that I have of her."

Embry squeezed my hand. "I wish I could've met her," he said simply. At least he didn't apologize for her leaving. It wasn't like he had anything to do with it.

We slid from the rock a little while later, but Embry never took his hand away from mine. And I never pulled away; I didn't want to. "Hey, uh, you remember when we talked about the other things that I didn't really... that - -"

"I'm not telling anyone about the things that you tell me, Penn," he said before I could try to stumble more over my words. "I swear on my life, I won't tell a soul." I had never trusted anyone but there was something about him that said that I could tell him, that I could trust him.

"Thank you," I whispered.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion then. The hand that was holding mine tugged a little and pulled toward him. Slowly, his arms wrapped around my waist and shoulders. I had plenty of time to pull away, but I was so frozen I didn't know how to think. I stiffened, not having touched anyone in ages. In my mind's eye, I could see the men that used to visit my room when I was a little girl. I could see the little girl being walked down stairs to my father and receiving a tight hug while I was still trembling. And then he would lean down and whisper, "You were such a good girl."

"Penn, it's me," Embry's voice said. I jumped in his arms as he pulled me from that past and into the present. "It's just me," he whispered. "I'm never going to hurt you." I kept trembling and tried to regulate my breathing, but he didn't seem at all deterred by the fact that I was shaking. He kept holding me while I tried to breathe. "It's just Embry; it's just me." It's just Embry; it's just Embry. I repeated it over and over again until the woodsy scent of him penetrated my nose and his heartbeat sounded under my ear.

I relaxed in his arms, letting him support some of my weight. It seemed like we had been standing there for ages when I wrapped my arms around his waist and laid my cheek down over his heart. I could hear his heart thumping and speeding up as he constricted his hold. "Thank you, Embry," I whispered. I wasn't sure what I was thanking him for. I didn't know if it was because he hadn't pushed me, if it was because he had been there for me the entire time that I was trying to get back to being human, or just because he was Embry.

A heavy chin rested on the top of my thick hair and Embry's chest rose in one deep sigh. He didn't say anything, but he did pull me tighter...

And I liked it.


	18. Chapter XVII

**Author's Note: Okay so I had a few things that I wanted to address real quick. First of all, I updated yesterday's chapter to clear up some details that were brought to my attention. I'm really really sorry about the oversight. Secondly, I had a question about Penn and Embry becoming a couple. It ****_will_**** happen; I promise you. As an author, I am a really slow writer. I like for stories to develop. I know that you guys don't know ****_a lot_**** about Penn's background, but you will get it. For Penn to talk about it takes more trust than she has at the moment. Hope that clarifies things for everyone. Enjoy!**

**Chapter XVII**

I was still reeling from Embry's hug that night when I was getting ready to go to the club that night. I pulled the jeweled stilettos on my feet and made sure I had ever little piece of faux leather tied in it's proper bow, flipping my hair over my shoulder before I grabbed my long jacket to keep me warm.

Like he had been earlier, Embry was standing on my small porch with his hand poised for a knock. I flinched a little, realizing that I looked like a hooker in front of him. It was different when I was at the club; that's what people expected of me there. But here, in my own home, I didn't want anyone to think of me like that. "What are you doing here?" I asked harsher than I meant to. Embry had been nothing but kind to me and I should be such a bitch to him. He didn't deserve that from me.

"I didn't want you to walk to the club on your own," he whispered. I bit my lip. Here I was getting defensive and rude but all he was trying to do was get me safely to work. "If you're going to be working there, I might as well know that you get there safe." I could see that he wasn't happy that I wasn't quitting. I really did want to, but I couldn't. "As long as it's okay with you, of course," he added.

I sighed heavily and took the offered hand, letting him lead me down the well worn path to the club. Embry didn't say anything, but the farther we walked, the guiltier I felt. I didn't want him to see me as some common whore and that's probably what he saw. I probably seemed like the kind of girl that _wanted_ to work in a strip club because I wouldn't quit. I bit my lip as I thought about that. I didn't want Embry to see me like that. "What's on your mind?" Embry's quiet voice speared the darkness.

I almost hated that he could read my mind as well as he was able to. I just shook my head so that I wouldn't have to tell him what was going through my head. But the look on his face said that he wasn't going to let me get away that easy. "I was trying to figure out a way that I could quit my job," I admitted in a whisper. "But it's just not a possibility, Embry." The last thing I needed was for him to get his hopes up about something that I couldn't do anything about. He nodded, but still looked like he was contemplating what to say next. I sat in silence, waiting for him to finish his thought and vocalize it.

"I wish that there was something I could to make it happen for you, Penn," he whispered. I could practically feel the desperation. He wanted so badly to know what was going on, why I couldn't tell him. I knew that he did but I would never put him at risk like that. His hand constricted around mine a little as he sighed. "I don't know what's going on, Penn, but I know that I will do anything to help you. If you need protection or just someone to be there, I can be that person. You just have to tell me."

"I can't, Embry." I waited for the anger that I knew would come. I had seen it in the very beginning and even though he hadn't been that way with me in a long time, I couldn't fault him for it. He just nodded and dropped it as he had before.

We talked about some movies that were coming out, about the work schedule at his mother's shop soon, and everything else that wasn't strip club related. He pulled me a stop when the neon lights of the club came into view. Like he had earlier that day, he gathered me in his arms and slowly pulled me to his chest. I had plenty of time to pull away like I had earlier but I'd found myself missing his embrace all day while he was gone working. I felt warmth pressing into my head and realized that it was his lips. Embry Call had just kissed my head.

He rested his cheek on my hair. I felt his fingers rolling up and down my spine through my thick, long coat. "I'm always here when you need me, Penn." His chest was vibrating underneath my ear, the sound like a purring cat. My lips twitched involuntarily, like the words made me happy on a level that I didn't even understand. "You can call me, text me, hell you shout my name if you _really_ need me. I'll always get to you," he muttered. "Do you have your phone on you?" he asked suddenly.

It's not like the clothing I was wearing was fucking bulky. This shit left nothing to the imagination. "I don't take it to work with me," I whispered. The last thing that I needed was for Ken to have another way to discover the people that were in my life. He'd already figured out Charlie and my uncle. I could warn them if something was going to happen. But Embry... He couldn't know about Embry. "I'll be fine, Embry."

"I'll be waiting right here to pick you up at four. Is that early enough?"

"Embry," I started shaking my head, "you don't have to do - -"

"I don't want you walking home by yourself at four in the morning, Penn. What if something happens to you?" The Penn that would have been indignant and told him to go fuck off must have had a stroke or something. Because I looked at Embry's eyes and all I saw was caring. All I saw was a desire to keep me safe. If he only knew that I had a pet wolf that walked me home every night. How exactly was I supposed to explain Ember to Embry? Maybe the wolf would see that I was with someone else and keep away tonight. If he came close, Embry might think of him as a threat and hurt him. Or Ember could hurt Embry.

He pushed me away enough to look in my face. I hadn't even realized that I'd wrapped my arms around him too. "Is that early enough?" I could see the determination glinting in his eyes. There was no way I was going to get him to back off. I nodded, giving up on convincing him that he didn't need to come over. He moved slowly towards my face and for a moment, I thought that he might kiss me. For the first time in my entire life, the fear and disgust weren't the only things that were thrumming through my body. Hidden somewhere in the mix was a strange...desire. There was some little, bitty, tiny part of me that _wanted_ him to kiss me.

Instead, his nose rubbed along my temple, breathing in like he was inhaling my very essence. His chin came to wrest on my head again and he inhaled deeply before letting all of his air slowly drain out. He shoved me away again and moved slowly while I watched him, acting like I was some kind of skittish animal. His lips slowly descended until they made contact with my forehead. The electricity zinging through my body stole my breath away, my limbs trembling. He lingered for a moment before he pulled away. "I'll be back for you," he promised.

My shift went just like always. I didn't do much more than dance on the pole. There were no privates that night. No real money to be had. And I realized that while this job was enough to tide me over, it wasn't enough to give me an actual life. If I was going to have any semblance of a real life, I needed to get out of this place.

Four o'clock in the morning came way later than I thought that it was going to. I was practically tingling with the anticipation of getting to walk home with Embry. I had all of my things gathered, I was saying my goodbyes to Greg when Ken called my name. "I've been hearing some rumors, Penn," he said. The first thing that coursed through my veins was fear. Had he figured out that I was underaged? Was I going to get fired?

And then I realized what a blessing it would be for me to get fired. Ken couldn't have the liability of soliciting a minor. He would lose everything important to him, everything his greedy little heart desired. And even if that _wasn't_ what he'd figured out... I could use that against him. I could get out of this. "Close the doors Greg; we're done here," Ken said. Greg looked at me with forlorn eyes, like he was devastated that he was leaving work this morning. But that wasn't right; Greg loved leaving every night.

My heart raced as I was left alone with Ken in the club. "Follow me," he commanded. I did as he asked, trying to appease him. Something was wrong; very, very wrong. He led me to the Swan Room and I wanted to laugh at the irony. This was where the greatest thing in my life had begun; this was where I had first started talking to Embry. Well, he talked and I hated, but this was where things had started. "There's been some rumors, Penn. I heard from a couple of the girls that you got a boyfriend."

"I don't date," I replied calmly. A hard fist connected with my ribcage, sending the air out of my lungs like I'd been hit by a cannonball. "I'm not dating anyone, Ken," I coughed out.

"I heard that you want to quit. Is there any truth to _that_?" I coughed again to try and avoid answering. His other fist connected with my skin and sent me to the floor. "We went over this when you were first hired. You are mine." I was shaking from the fear that I was trying so hard to hide. "You want to quit this job? Is that what you want?"

His booted foot connected with my side. I swallowed hard but I couldn't get enough air into my lungs to cry out or do anything more than lie still and wait for more pain. "You are mine, bitch. You will always be mine," he hissed. There were a few more swift blows and then he drew himself upright, sliding his hands through his greasy hair as if that would make him look better.

I coughed and took in a shaky breath. "I'm underaged," I whispered. He turned back to me with a deathly glare. "I can go to the cops and tell them about all your activities. I know that some of the girls are hookers. I know you're their pimp. I can tell them everything," I threatened. "I'm only seventeen. I just want to quit and get a better job; a _real_ job. Let me go and I won't tell a soul about this," I promised.

I watched his eyes gleam in the dim light of the room. "I told you when you signed on: you're mine." He didn't think that I would go the cops? I could; I wanted to be better. I wanted to be a real person with friends and people who care. His hand dug into his back pocket. "Guess we'll just have to make sure no one ever finds you," he whispered, unfolding the long knife.


	19. Chapter XVIII

**Author's Note: Okay, a couple of things here. Please, please, please don't hate me for what you are about to read. And then, after you've read and are trying to figure out whether or not you want to hate me, remember the title of the story. She has to be stripped down to absolutely nothing before she can begin to rebuild herself. Her anger, her pride, her fears, all of that has to be stripped away from her before she can realize what she could be. Please keep all of those things in mind and don't hate me. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter XVIII**

I back away from the knife, seeing a completely different man and a larger, hunting knife in front of my eyes. I kept scooting back, crawling away slowly so as not to scare him. "Ken, I'm sorry," I said immediately. "I didn't mean it; I'll stay," I promised. I didn't want to end like this. I couldn't let it end like this. "I'll stay," I squeaked out.

"No, no," he mocked. "No you want to quit then I guess we can call this the end," he said. He stepped closer to me and I flinched in fear. He knelt down next to me. "Hey, hey," he said like he was placating a startled child. He hushed me, keeping the knife in his hand as his palm and fist smoothed over my hair to cup my cheeks. "It's okay, Penn. We'll make sure to get it over with quickly. You used to be good. I'll make it easy for you."

The indignant side of me flared underneath his hands and I couldn't hold the spit that pooled in my mouth. It landed on his face with a satisfying splat. He balked and dropped my face. I jumped up as quickly as my five-inch heels would allow and sprinted towards the front door. I pulled and tugged, trying desperately to get the door to open. But the chains only rattled on the other side. This was why Greg had looked at me with such fear. He had locked me in here with Ken. He had left me to my death.

A thick, meaty hand fisted around my hair and pulled me back to the ground. I hit it with a thud and a cry. He quickly decided that the ground wasn't where he wanted me. He yanked on my hair until I was forced to my feet at the risk of him pulling out all my hair. The flat edge of the knife pressed against my thigh, atop the scar that I had from a different man who'd hurt me too. "Maybe we should give you another scar, even it out," he growled. I flinched, remembering the pain of the last time that I'd had a knife in my skin.

"Don't do this," I whispered. In the heels, I was a few inches taller than him but the precariousness of my shoes made it impossible for me to get away from him. "Please; I won't leave. Please," I begged. I could feel the tears rushing to the surface. I didn't want to be afraid. I wanted to find the part of me that was impossible to control, the part of me that wasn't afraid of things. But she was gone. All that was left was the scared little girl from my past, the one that I tried so desperately to forget. If I couldn't remember her, then the things that happened to her weren't real. Why did she had to make herself known at the most inopportune moments?

"You should have just kept your mouth shut, Penn," he whispered. I felt the tip of the knife press against my skin and tried not to cry out. Silently, I prayed that the god who hadn't cared for me when I was little would save me from all of this. I just didn't want the knife to hit anything important. I could die within minutes. He had the knife a few inches in, just as deep as I remembered the knife on the other side, and brought it down a few inches, separating the skin. I screamed but reminded myself not to thrash. I would only cause more damage.

He pulled the knife out, eliciting another scream from me. I whimpered and could feel the blood draining from my face to leaking out of my thigh. "Please, just let me go. I still want to work here," I muttered. "Please." I could feel the energy seeping out of my wound, my head lolling to the side. I snapped it upright, afraid of what he could do to me if I let the darkness claim me. "Please don't do this," I repeated. "I want to dance. I want to work here. Please."

"You'll have to earn it, Penn," he breathed. I felt his mouth drag sloppily up my jaw. I was on the ground now, but I couldn't remember how I'd gotten there. At least he hadn't let me fall and eat shit. I could feel his body along mine and then the silver glinted by my face. "You should have just listened to me, gone through with your contract like a good girl. It was your choice, all of this was your fault." I was breathing hard now, my lungs filling up shallowly and then repeating. I couldn't get a full breath.

I felt the pain stinging my shoulder as he carved something there with the point of his knife. Black spots appeared before my eyes but I could still see his wicked eyes smiling at me. He was enjoying this. "You want to keep this job, Penn, you're going to have to prove it," he snarled. He stepped off of me but I was still confused about what he saying. His booted foot connected with my ribcage again, shattering anything that was left there. My face remained unmarred. Why would he harm that? It was his property, his merchandise. No one wanted to pay to watch an ugly stripper.

He spat at me but I think I was too numb to move. I could feel the warmth pooling around my body but I couldn't move. Everything was going cold, despite the fact that I could still feel his hot breath on me, over my chest and across my shoulder. "We'll see if you make it through the night. I really should sleep on it before I make any rash decisions," he said. "Goodnight, Penn."

I tried to crawl to the door to follow him to out. He turned around and slammed his feet down on my hand. I cried out again and pulled the hand to my chest to protect myself from any further damage. I heard the clatter of the chains as he pulled the doors shut. I curled into a protective position, looking around me to try to make sense of everything. My whole thought process, all of my logic was destroyed. He was never going to let me go. Not until I was dead. And at the moment, death was the greatest thing that could come to me.

But the stubborn part of me didn't allow for me to think like that. I couldn't let him win this. He couldn't be the one that ended me. If I was going to go, I was going by my own hand, how I wanted to go. I just had to find away out of here.

I tried to push myself upright, but I was too tired, too weary. I didn't even know how bad off I was. I could see the black circles widening until they were connecting and there was more black than color. "I - - Embry," I muttered. He was going to come back for me. He cared about me, I know that he did. He wouldn't just leave me hanging out here. He would come looking for me... Wouldn't he?

_"Penn?" I heard the voice that I had been dreaming dreamy about. I wanted to respond to him and tell him that I could hear him. "Oh my God, Penn. Penn can you hear me?" He was shouting at me but I still couldn't find the strength to reply. War hands wrapped around me and tugged..._

The searing hot pain flashed through me and caused me to pull away. Of course, the jerkiness of my movements only caused the fire to burn through me again. "Oh God, Penn. Can you hear me, Penn? Please wake up. Open your eyes. Please, please, _please_," he begged. I felt his fingers wrap around my thigh. I tried to pull away but Embry held me firm. "You're okay, Penn. You're going to be okay. I swear it. I just got to stop this bleeding."

One of his hands readjusted his hold while the other hand came up to stroke my hair. I was laboring for any ounce of air, but I focused on his hold on my leg and the gentle hand that was trying to bring me comfort. "I'm going to call the hospital, Penn. We're going to get you out of here, we're going to get you safe," he promised.

"No hospitals," I tried to murmur but the only sounds that escaped my throat were moans. He hushed me and his hand left my hair. I wanted it back. I wanted the comfort that he gave me.

"You're going to be okay, Penn. Trust me," he begged. I wanted to trust him but he couldn't bring me to the hospital. They would ask him about my history, especially when they saw the bruises. And then they would ask about the situation, about what happened. Embry would tell them that I was stripper, that I was underaged. I'd be arrested. I'd lose everything. They'd put me back in my father's custody.

I felt a tugging in my abdomen that I hadn't felt before and cried out. It felt like someone was trying to pull a stake out of my stomach. "Sh, Penn. I won't touch it again, Penn. I promise." His hand resumed its gentle petting of my hair. I felt his thumb swipe over my temple. "Fuck! We can't move you. And I broke in here. Fuck!" he shouted again. The sound of it made me jump. "Sorry; I'm so sorry. You're okay Penn. You're okay I'm sorry that I shouted. I..." he paused like he was trying to figure out everything. I wondered what I looked like, what he was seeing. "I've got a doctor friend," he finally whispered. "I'll have him come down here, okay? Is that okay with you Penn?"

I tried to open my eyes and tell him that I didn't want the police involved but I just couldn't move. "He won't say a word to anyone until you can tell us what happened, Penn. I promise you." I was still struggling for air when I felt the gentle press of his lips against my forehead. "Trust me."

I managed to lift the hand that was curled to my stomach a few inches. Embry quickly grabbed hold of it. I clung to him like he was my life line, the only thing that would keep me alive. "I've got you, Penn. You're safe; you're going to be okay. Just trust me," he repeated. Hadn't he proven that he wasn't going to hurt me? Hadn't he proven that he could keep me safe? I kept my hand wrapped around his and let the darkness claim me once again, putting all my trust in his arms. Putting _myself_ in his arms.


	20. Chapter XIX

**Author's Note: FanFiction decided that it hated me last night and wouldn't allow me to get new chapters up. I don't know what's wrong, but I'm really sorry. Here you all are. Enjoy**

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**Chapter XIX:****_ Embry's Point of View_**

I was walking her to the club, kicking myself in the ass the whole way. Penn would do anything and everything she could to keep her independence. She didn't want to work here at this club. She didn't want to do this. And she had been walking nearly five miles everything single day without anywhere there for her. But when the neon lights glared at me through the forest, I had to stop her. I had to say goodbye to her.

I just wanted her to know that she could pull away. That's why I was so cautious. I gently enfolded my arms around her back and brought her to my chest. There was no freeze, no freak out this time. She quickly brought her cheek to rest on my chest. Her arms, strong and toned from all the pole dancing, slithered around my waist and anchored me to her. She was okay with this. She was actually letting me hug her.

I hadn't even realized that I had tucked my chin and kissed the top of her head until I could feel her silk hair underneath my lips. But she didn't move away, she didn't even straighten like a poker. I tipped my head and pressed my cheek into her hair. I wanted to keep her here for the rest of my life. I wanted her to know that here, in my arms, she was safe. No matter what was going on around us, she was safe here. "I'm always here when you need me, Penn," I promised her. She rubbed her face against my shirt. The wolf part of me was howling with delight. "You can call me, text me, hell you shout my name if you really need me," I whispered, fighting the desire to kiss her hair again. "I'll always get to you." She held me tighter. Now that she was willing to let me hold her and protect her, _Ember_ didn't need to. "Do you have your phone on you?"

"I don't take it to work with me," she replied. "I'll be fine, Embry."

She would not be fine. I couldn't let my girl, as beautiful and wonderful as she was, walk home from a strip club. I don't even think she realized how stunning she looked in that damn coat with the heels. It was like she was begging every man around her to fall in love with her. I mean, I guess that's what she was doing. That was her job. But I didn't like it. "I'll be waiting right here to pick you up at four," I promised. Unless...unless she got finished with her shift or if she was finished earlier. I had never really paid attention to the time because I was a wolf, just sitting outside the club and waiting for her to get out of there. "Is that early enough?"

She was already shaking her head. "Embry, you don't have to do - -"

"I don't want you walking home by yourself at four in the morning Penn." I was not going to let her walk home by herself. "What if something happens to you?" She didn't say anything. I was worried that she was trying to figure out how to best tell me that she didn't want me to come and get her. I loosened my hold on her to pull away and look down at her. "Is that early enough?" Her eyes flickered across my face for a minute before she nodded. My heart stuttered again. She was actually going to let me do my job.

I wanted so desperately to kiss her, to feel those lips against mine. But she had only just allowed me to touch her at all. I refused to go further until she needed me to, until she wanted me to. So I inhaled her honeysuckle scent and tucked her back into my chest. I waited there for a moment or two to see how she was reacting, but she was still comfortable with me. At least I think she was. I pulled away again and ducked my chin, taking care to watch her eyes until I couldn't see them anymore. And then I kissed her forehead, the electricity shocking me with its intensity. She shuddered a little, but when I looked back at her, I could tell that it wasn't from the fear. "I'll be back for you," I swore. She nodded and walked inside.

It was quarter to four in the morning, a time when I should be sleeping or running patrol. But who gave a fuck what I needed when I needed to get my imprint home and safe. I squatted down in the grass, wishing that I could smell him over the booze and drugs. The music screaming out of the place drowned out all the things that I should be able to hear. Finally, I decided to lie back in the grass. She knew where to find me. And it wasn't like her to ignore me when she'd said that she would come here.

But the minutes kept ticking by and she hadn't appeared. The other dancers began to exit, but if she was still working, Penn would stay later than the rest. I checked my phone, glad that Paul had gotten me a new since the asshole broke the last one that I had. It was four thirty. She'd said that four would be fine. Why wasn't she here?

The door to the club opened wide. I jumped to my feet, but it wasn't my imprint. It was Greg, the bouncer... He'd never left before Penn. She'd told Ember once that Greg was always the last one to leave. He turned off the music and locked the club up. The music was still blaring, but Greg was locking the door, wrapping the chains around the handles to keep them still. So where was Penn? She was supposed to be here by now. Another door opened, but it wasn't the front one. I circled the club, hoping the find Penn. Maybe she'd earned some extra money by cleaning or something. That was something that she would do if she had to. So why did I feel like my gut was being ripped out?

The club's owner adjusted his pants and folded up a cloth and shoved it back in his pocket. He looked back at the club with a sneer that made we want to vomit. Penn hadn't walked home without me...had she? Maybe she wasn't as willing to accept me as I had thought. Still, something didn't feel right. It was a gut feeling, one of those ones that you couldn't shake, that told me to stay. I waited another half hour for her but she still wasn't leaving. I could go up to the door and listen. Maybe she was... No; I wasn't going to think about that.

I tiptoed up to the front doors of the club. The stench of alcohol was still lingering in the air but behind it, I could smell the honeysuckle. She was here. "Penn?" I called through the doors. Why was she still here after everyone had left? "Penn, it's Embry. I came to walk you home." There was no music playing and I could hear breathing from just inside.

But that was nothing compared to the quiet sound that seared through my hot like a red hot poker. "Embry." It was whispered and pained, but I would now that voice anywhere. "Embry." I grabbed a hold of the thick chain and snapped it like a twig, pulling it free from the doors as another broken sob of my name pierced the air.

"Penn?" I threw the doors open and grabbed the first light switch I could get, flipping it on and flooding the place with cold blue light. I could smell her, but it was too strong. It was the kind of smell that only came when there was... Blood. I followed it, nose almost to the ground to find her. I almost wish I hadn't. "Oh my God." I couldn't help the startled gasp that escaped my lungs. She was lying in a pool of her own blood. I was fairly certain that people weren't able to lose that much blood and live. How did I figure out that this was what I was feeling? That gut wrenching ghost pain that I'd ignored had been her getting stabbed. "Penn, can you hear me?"

She didn't move. The pool around her didn't seem to be growing, but the problem was that it was so large. She was lying on her back with her hand curled protectively against her side, a black handle sticking out her gut. He'd left it there. I wrapped my arms around her waist and gently tugged, trying to get her into my arms. But she screamed and jumped away, tears streaming down her blood-stained face. I could see the blood leaking out of her leg, the line matching the one that I hadn't every paid much attention to before on the opposite leg. A large number seventeen was carved into her left shoulder.

But there didn't seem to be much blood on her face. In fact, there didn't seem to be _any_ wounds on her face. The wound on her leg, however, concerned me. What if the bastard had hit an artery? What if she bled out. "Oh God, Penn. Can you hear me, Penn? Please wake up. Open your eyes," I begged. "Please, please, _please._" I couldn't lose her. I had barely gotten to know her. She was supposed to be my soulmate, my person for the rest of my life. Fuck this shit, I wasn't going to lose her. I wrapped both of my hands around her upper thigh, wishing I'd had something I could use a tourniquet. She eased her leg away but I wasn't giving up on this. I wasn't losing her. "You're okay, Penn." Well, no; she wasn't okay. "You're going to be okay. I swear it. I just got to stop this bleeding."

She was whimpering, her entire pale form shuttering. Her breath came in gasps. I prayed to go the asshole that did this to her hadn't punctured her lung. I fixed my hold on her leg so that I could hold her blood in with one hand and find some way to comfort her with the other. But she was so hurt, so injured. I moved my hand over her hair, petting the only part of her that wasn't injured at the moment. "I'm going to call the hospital, Penn. We're going to get you out of here. We're going to get you safe." I was never leaving her side again. How did any of the guys deal with this?

She moaned and whimpered and cried, tears creating clean tracks were the blood was smeared. She was trying to say something but the pain was too much. Maybe I could get the knife out and alleviate the pain. I stopped petting her hair ad wrapped my fist around the handle of the knife, giving it a gentle tug. She screamed, her hands flailing in front of her. "Sh, Penn. I won't touch it again, Penn," I said. "I promise." I moved myself back to her hair, wishing I could hold her and take that pain away.

"Fuck!" I couldn't help her. There was nothing that I could do to make this better. She was going to die and I couldn't save her. I couldn't even get her to the hospital. Who knew if she was stable enough to move. And because I'd been so desperate to get in here, I was no guilty of breaking and entering. "We can't move you and I broke in here. Fuck!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. She jumped, but the movement made her cry out like it had when I first touched her. Everything hurt her and every moment, she was losing precious minutes of her life. "Sorry; I'm so sorry," I almost sobbed. I should have been in there with her. I should have been protecting her. "You're okay, Penn, you're okay. I'm sorry that I shouted. I -" I wanted to tell her that I was going to fix it but I could. I wasn't a doctor.

A doctor! Carlisle Cullen. He could save her. He could bring whatever he needed here to get her stable and then we could move her. "I've got a doctor friend, I'll have him come down here, okay?" She didn't say anything. "Is that okay with you, Penn?" Her eyelids fluttered and for a brief second I thought I might get to see her eyes. But they soon stilled. "He won't say a word to anyone until you can tell us what happened, Penn," I breathed. She could get arrested for what she'd done. "I promise you." I seal it with a kiss to her forehead, hoping it would be enough. "Trust me."

The hand that was turning black lifted from her stomach, barely, but enough to tell me that she heard me. She knew I was here for her. I latched on, feeling her fingers weakly grasp mine. It must have hurt. She winced with every motion. "I've got you, Penn. You're safe; you going to be okay. Just trust me." It was so much to ask of a girl who had been so hurt before. Her fingers closed around mine and she sighed, her head lolling to the side. I could still hear her heart beating like a hummingbird's wings and her breath coming in fluttery gasps. But she was still alive. That's what I would focus on. She was alive.

When Paul had given me his old iPhone, I thought it was stupid. But now that I was sitting here with my hands wrapped around her tight to stop the bleeding, the damn thing was a godsend. I used the table that wasn't too far away to dig it out of my pocket, pressing the edge of the table against the end of the phone until it clattered to the floor. Once there, I leaned down and pressed my elbow against the home button. I waited for the beeping that told me the voice control was on and called a number that I hadn't even wanted to keep in my phone. Jake had insisted that we have it for emergency purposes. "Call the Parasite," I commanded.

"Calling the Parasite, mobile," it replied.

It rang a few times before the leech answered. "How can I help you today..." he trailed off, probably unsure which wolf it was.

"Carlisle, it's Embry. I don't have time for pleasantries. I have a friend who was attacked. She's dying. Please, I need your help," I begged.

"I'm in Seattle with my family," he murmured. Panic shot through me. "I can be there in an hour."

"She's got a stab wound on her thigh, Carlisle. I don't know if she can go an hour," I shouted, almost losing my balance and coming crashing down on the phone. "Please, I'm begging you."

"Keep pressure on the wound and don't touch her. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"You're going to need some things for her, Doc. She's in real bad shape," I said. There was a part of me that hoped that he could do it by himself, that he didn't need the tools. The longer we waited, the closer she came to dying.

"My wife will gather my things at the house and meet me there. But if she's as bad as you say -"

"She is."

"Then I need to get to her as quickly as possible. Now where are you?"

I gave him the name and address of the club before he hung up, promising to be as quick as he could. Then I turned my attention to the girl on the ground. I kept the pressure on her leg and leaned down to kiss her forehead and her cheek. "You are the most stubborn person that I've ever met, Penn, so I expect you to fight a little while long. You got to fight and stay alive; help is on the way, okay?"

God help me, I couldn't lose her.


	21. Chapter XX

**Author's Note: Sorry! There will some problems with Mormon and she's like a week post-op so I wasn't able to get chapters up yesterday. Double update TOMORROW**

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**Chapter XX**

I tried to get my eyes open, but everything hurt. Beyond the pain though, I was aware that the warmth that had been surrounding me was gone. And Embry wasn't there. The rough hand that had been gently petting my hair was gone. He hasn't left me alone, had he? I didn't want to be alone. For the first time in my life, I really hoped that someone was there with me. He would get to me I was alone.

"Penn?" It was like all my dreams were answered in that quiet voice. He was still here, still watching over me. "Penn are you awake?" I wanted to nod, to say something but I felt like I was tied down by sandbags. "You're safe, in your house," he began quietly. "Carlisle will be back in just a little bit with some other stuff for you." Carlisle? Like Carlisle Cullen? How did Embry know him? I trembled a little as I started to recall the more vivid details of what had happened. "No no, Penn. Not again. Come on, stay with me," he begged.

The warmth suddenly returned as his large hands came up to frame my face, thumbs whispering over my cheekbones. "You got to stay with me this time. Come on. Open your eyes. I'm right here. I'm going to protect you from it all. Just open your eyes. The nightmare's over. Come on." He was so desperate that I found myself with the strangest, most intense urge to comfort him.

So I fought against my exhaustion and pain to open my eyes. And why did I do this instead of letting the darkness take me? For Embry fucking Call. For a man that I shouldn't give two shuts about but that I wanted to keep around. I found his almost black eyes staring back at me, a smile plastered on his face. Maybe I had gone back to sleep. "Embry?"

his hand stroked over my hair again and his smile grew. "I'm right here, Penn. You're okay," he promised. "You're okay," I repeated.

"You're smiling," I whispered through the haze.

"I must be happy then," he replied. His eyes were lit up with joy, his teeth parted wide to reveal a set of perfectly straight white teeth. His skin was practically glowing with glee. He looked younger, happier, healthier... hotter.

"You're hotter when you're happy," I muttered quietly. I was saying it more to myself than anyone else.

"I'll keep that in mind," he replied. I blushed when I realized he'd heard me. But my embarrassment only seemed to make him happier. "How are you feeling? Are you in pain?"

The part of me that didn't like for people to know anything about me was quiet, the various things about me realizing that Embry wouldn't hurt me. If he really wanted sex, he had plenty of time to make that clear. In fact, we were coming up on two months that he'd had knowing me. I could trust him. He didn't want to hurt me. He honestly wanted to help me, to be there for me. So I nodded. "My stomach hurts...really bad. And I, uh, I can't really move right now," I admitted.

"How bad does it hurt Penn?" I must have looked like I was about to lie because he was quick to add, "Don't lie to me. I'm only trying to help you." I sighed but the action sent pain ricocheting through my body. I whimpered and tried to curl up but that only hurt worse. "Slow down," he said, pressing me gently back into the mattress. I let him, enjoying the feeling of his weight lingering over me. He wasn't on me, but I could feel the heat and size of him on top of me like the thickest winter blanket. "You're pretty banged up. You're going to have to take things slowly." I nodded.

Two shorts knocks rapped on my door. Embry's warmth started to pull away as he rose to answer it. Fear drove all my logic away. Panic clawed at my throat, feasted on my heart, and churned in my stomach. I reached up to his shirted chest and wrapped my hands around the fabric, holding him to me. My left had protested and I noted that my fingers were almost black with bruises. But I couldn't be left alone here. "Please don't leave," I begged shamelessly. The fog that had been all over me had receded, but the confusion was still there. "Please, Embry."

He hushed me, his hand threading through my hair. I could feel his thumb against the the swirl of my ear while he stroked. "Carlisle, the door is unlocked." His voice didn't grow any louder but I heard the door click open. "I'm not going anywhere, Penn. I'm going to stay here, okay? But I have to move out of Carlisle's way so that he can take care of you," he murmured. I was shaking my head. "I'm not leaving you, Penn."

"If you go, he's going to get me," I replied, still holding tight to his shirtfront. "Please Embry; I know that we don't get along all the time. Please." His thumbs resumed their gentle caress along my jawline while he was still hovering over me. "Please," I continued to bed.

He pressed his lips to my forehead. "I'm not leaving you, Penn. Here," he said. His hand slid from my hair to my ankle. His fingers drew gentle circles around the skin there. "Carlisle is going to come in and finish some stuff up on you," he murmured. "He's going to get you some better pain medication so that it doesn't hurt as badly, okay?" I heard my bedroom door open and close, a blonde man that was supernaturally beautiful stepping into the room.

I hadn't had a man in my bedroom since I got out of my father's care. I had never imagined letting another on in. Embry's hands slid up to my calf and I flinched, pulling away from his hold and shouting out as the heat seared my bones and threatened to over take me. "Penn, it's me. It's Embry. You're safe. You're here with me, remember?" I repeated his words in my head, knowing that it was just Embry. But it wasn't him that I was afraid of. It was the man that I had never met. "Carlisle isn't going to hurt you. I promise that I won't let him do anything that isn't going to help you."

I was rolling my head back and forth to try to get the haze away but I couldn't do it. "Please don't go, Embry. Please, please, don't," I murmured. He was holding onto my ankle again, but I could feel him still moving. The bed shifted with his weight until he was laying down with me, his hard body pressed against the length of mine.

"I'm not going anywhere, Penn. Okay? I'm right here," he promised. His hand was stroking the length of my hair, the simple touch driving away the last of my reservations. A cold hand touched my forearm, making me jump at the temperature change. I was in pain, but I didn't know this man beside me. I tried to hide myself in Embry, but he hushed me. "I'm here; he's not going to hurt you. Trust me," he begged. I nodded, but it still didn't stop me from leaning towards him.

The hand touched me again, drawing my arm out and along the bed. I felt the prick of a needle and a cold rush through my veins. I moaned and tried to ease myself towards Embry, but he held me still. "This pain medication will be god for the next twelve hours or so," a methodic voice said. Frozen fingers shoved themselves against my throat, feeling the bump of my pulse. "I can come back tonight and change out the bag if she's still in pain."

"Thank you Carlisle," Embry said.

"The medication will make her tired. Because of all her traumas, I would make sure that you stay with her." I could feel the bed shifting. "Take caution of her ribs; she will be sore. Don't allow her to thrash too much. She could tear some of the stitching that she has."" There was silence again. "I'll see you both later tonight then."

There were more words that I couldn't quite figure out what they are were. And then there was the opening and closing of the doors sounded. Embry's wrapped a gentle arm around my shoulders and pulled me tight against his chest. "You're okay, Penn. Rest and go to sleep. I'm here and I'll protect you."

He would protect me. Embry would be here with me.


	22. Chapter XXI

**Author's Note: I don't know when I started a war with FanFiction, but apparently I did. I was locked out of my account yesterday all damn day and all damn night. I'm really really really sorry. Here's a chapter for you. Apologies and thanks; enjoy!**

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**Chapter XXI:****_ Embry's Point of View_**

Carlisle got there in record time, only thirty-five minutes. But in barely over half an hour, Penn's face had lost almost all of its color and her shivering had increased one hundredfold. "Hang on, Penn. Please hang on for me, okay," I begged her. Carlisle walked through the open doors. I'm sure that he followed the smell of blood that probably burned at the back of his throat, but at the moment, I was too scared to be disgusted by the thing that I had invited here. "Carlisle, please; you've got to help her!" I could feel tears burning at the back of my throat. I couldn't lose my imprint. I didn't even know her yet. I was barely getting to see the real Penn.

"What's her name?" he asked as he dropped down beside me.

"Penn Rivers; she's seventeen," I said, clenching my hands around her leg.

"Can you hear me Penn?" Carlisle asked, his golden eyes burning with seriousness. "Miss Rivers, I'm Dr. Cullen. I'm going to get you stable and then we'll get you moved somewhere a little more comfortable. If anything I do hurts you, please let me know and I'll see if I can't find a way to make it easier for you," he continued solicitously. Penn didn't do anything, her lifeless heading staying where it was at the awkward angle leaning towards me. "I'm going to give you an injection in your thigh while I work on the wound there."

"Carlisle, you don't have to tell her what you're doing. She can't hear you," I said, wanting nothing more than to have her in my arms while Carlisle worked on her.

"She may not actively be hearing, but she is still aware of what's going on around her Embry," he promised. Penn moaned as the needle went under her skin and Carlisle's thumb started to press down on the syringe. She tried to pull herself away, but Carlisle held her form. "I know, dear; we're going to make all of this go away," Carlisle promised. A sound from the forest drew my attention. I was almost hoping that it would be the man who had done this to her, the one that had just left her in here. I couldn't wait to get the asshole that had hurt her. "Esme, we're inside the club," Carlisle said, although he didn't move his eyes from Penn.

The mother leech walked through the club doors and ran at parasite sped to our spot. She pulled something out of the bag and tied it around Penn's thigh, just above my hands. "I think your mate might appreciate a little comfort," she said. I nodded, slowly removing my hands and lingering just incase I needed to grab it again. I looked at Carlisle and then at Esme, waiting until both of them had nodded to move towards her head.

Gently, I took my imprint's silken hair in my hands and cupped the back of her head, resting her head in my lap, keep her face just between my hands. "You're going to be okay, Penn. I'm going to get you home," I promised her. Carlisle began doing some more medical stuff, talking to Esme, saying things that I didn't understand. If I wasn't so focused on the fact that my imprint's blood was swirling around my nose, I probably would've understood what was going on. But I watched with eyes that were only half seeing as Carlisle began stitching her leg with quick stitches. If this was any other doctor, I would question the quality of the stitches, but I knew better. If anyone could save her, it was Carlisle. He had to save her. He was the last thing that I had left.

Carlisle's fist wrapped around the handle of the knife. As she had before, Penn began thrashing again. Esme pinned her arms down and I held her head steady between my hands. "Sh, Penn; you've got to hold still. You're going to be okay. They're just trying to help you," I promised her. She was still shaking. There was absolutely no color in her cheeks. Even her hair seemed a little duller. When she moaned and tried to pull away from Esme and me, I just wanted to hold her and absorb her into me, to take her pain away and make it my own. With a little sigh, Carlisle finally pulled the knife free from her stomach. There was blood dripping down the edge of the knife and onto her bare skin. Carlisle laid it aside and then began working on the deep wound.

It seemed like an eternity later when he determined that we could move her. "I have a stretcher back at home," he suggested. My face must have told him just how desperately I wanted to keep her in my arms. "If you are gentle and don't jostle her, I think she could make it home. But you must move swiftly," he said. I nodded.

I wrapped her left arm around my neck, careful of her blackening fingers. She screamed in pain and I almost stopped, but Carlisle urged me forward. "Once you have a hold on her, I'll make sure she won't be in any pain for the run," he promised. It was on my tongue to ask him why he hadn't done that before I picked her up, but I didn't. He was the one with _centuries _of medical experience behind him. I wrapped my arms around her waist, feeling her muscles twitch like she really wanted to pull away. I lifted her from the ground enough to lever my arm underneath her knees and pull her away from the ground. I moved slowly, trying to keep her from feeling any pain. She was crying, tears streaming down her face. Carlisle stepped up and pressed another needle into the arm that wasn't wrapped around me.

Her entire form went lax then, like she didn't have anything left in her to fight with. "Embry," she begged. I wanted to cry as my name escaped her lips once again. At least she understood that I was always going to be here to save her. Nothing was going to hurt her again; ever. She was going to learn what it felt like to be loved, to be cherished. And if I had anything to say about it, she was never going to go back to this damned club again. She turned her head towards me and breathlessly muttered my name again. The arm that was swollen from all the injections Carlisle had put in reached across her body. Her hand wrapped itself in my shirt until it had worked one of the buttons open on my shirt. Her frozen fingers found their way to my skin and she sighed.

I looked to Carlisle then. He nodded and I took off at a sprint, keeping her still in the cradle of my arms. She would moan every once and a while, but she kept herself still and relaxed in my arms. I didn't bother to try to shift my hold and find her house keys in her coat. I balanced her in one arm and grabbed hold of the handle, snapping the lock and lunging inside. "Get her on her bed," Carlisle commanded. I nodded and marched towards the bedroom that Penn had never shown me.

I laid her down on her bed, sliding my hand over her hair as I pulled away. I stood at the foot of her queen sized bed, leaning against the wooden frame at the foot of the bed. "I don't want to distract you. Shut me up if I do," I prefaced. "Is she going to live through this? There was a lot of blood." I leaned over the wood and rested a hand on her ankle, telling myself that I was helping by keeping her stretched out and still for Carlisle to work. "Be honest with me, please. I need to know."

"Her heartbeat is weak, but it's grown stronger since I first arrived." I nodded. That was a good sign. She was getting a little bit better. "I am hoping that a transfusion can replace what she lost. If she makes it through the night, I would say that her chances will be dramatically increased." I nodded to myself. I could get her through the night. I could do that. I _would_ do that. "She will be in pain for a long time, Embry." I nodded again. I could understand that. She'd been stabbed, tortured, beaten. It would only make sense that she would be in pain. "I would tell you that she shouldn't be left alone for at least four weeks."

"I'll stay with her," I promised before I even thought it through. I had no guarantees that Penn would welcome me into her home for a month. But the only other person that she had was Charlie. Maybe Charlie could come and stay with her during the day but she needed someone who could hear her needed to stay with her at night. "We'll take care of our own," I said, unconsciously referring to the Pack. "You'll just have to tell me what I need to do," I added, realizing that I had no idea how to care for someone as wounded as she is.

"The most important thing will be keeping her wounds clean and not allowing her to move around too much," he explained. "She'll need to be pampered and spoiled and I wouldn't recommend showering for the next three or four days. Nothing strenuous for her." I could do all of these things for her. Hell, pampering and spoiling her was all I _wanted _to do. "This injection should keep her from feeling much pain," he said, pressing the needle through her skin. "I'll return in a few minutes; I need to get a transfusion started." I nodded but I wasn't really listening anymore. I wanted to see her eyes again. I wanted to see her awake again.

I heard Carlisle leave, promising me that he'd be back soon. I stepped around the bed and settled myself against her hip. "I'm so sorry that I wasn't here for you Penn," I whispered. I could do those things now that the worst was behind her. "It's never going to happen again; I promise." I didn't care whether it was the imprint or not, I loved this girl. And I wasn't going to lose her before I got to love her properly.


	23. Chapter XXII

**Author's Note: Okay, here you all are. Hopefully everyone understood that the last chapter jumped back and now we're catching up with Penn's perspective. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter XXII:****_ Embry's Point of View_**

Her eyes flew open, wide and scared and completely unseeing. "Penn," I called, combing her hair with my fingers. "Penn, it's Embry," I whispered.

"He's going to get me," she muttered. Her entire form started shaking, her eyes watering, tears spilling out over the corners. "I don't want to quit. I'm sorry. Don't hurt them, don't," she continued. She wasn't seeing me. She was still there, in that club, begging for that bastard to stop hurting her. She was almost coming off the bed with the force of her shivers.

"She's going into shock," Carlisle said. He was calm and quiet, but moved with a haste that had me on edge. He hushed her and found a vein that was less sore than the rest of her and pushed some medication into her veins. Almost immediately her heart slowed and her breathing evened out. "That will keep her out for a few more minutes," he explained. I just stroked her hair, wishing I knew anything about medical anything to help her. He worked more, silently and swiftly. "If you need anything else, please don't hesitate to call me again."

"She's going to make it through this," I said. I wasn't really talking to him, but he nodded anyways.

"Keep a careful eye on her tonight. Try to keep her awake when she does, see if you can't get her to remember the details without sending herself into shock again," he said. I nodded, not moving. I had snapped the lock on the door; there was no reason to walk the man out. I don't even know if I could have left her side at the moment. "I'll be back in the morning to check on her and place a catheter." I just waved him off, his words not really getting through to me. I was more focused on my imprint and the revenge that was swirling in my brain.

"Embry," she muttered, clutching at the air. Carlisle had used so many of her veins in an attempt to keep from making her sore. "He doesn't know! Please," she murmured. I wondered what was going on inside her head, what was making her so afraid. "Don't hurt him," she breathed. Did she think that anything could hurt me? "Please." It was like a chocked sob echoing through the room.

Her eyes opened a little, but the glassiness of them told me that she still wasn't seeing everything in front of her. I leaned over her and took her face between my hands and held her still but she just kept thrashing and fighting me. Until the tremors took over again. "Penn, you're okay. You hear me? You're here with me. I'm going to keep you safe. I promise. Just open your eyes and look at me," I begged. She was shaking still, her eyes darting around the room as she fought for control. "No one is going to get to you again, Penn. It's not going to happen. I promise."

Her muttering died off, her heart still hammering in her chest. Slowly, everything started to flatten out and she was asleep again. How did I keep her awake? How did I fight the demons that were haunting her in her sleep? My phone vibrated in my pocket and no matter how much I didn't want to, I had to answer it. "What do you need Jake?" I knew better than to be speaking to my Alpha in such a way, but I was so on edge that I couldn't even think straight.

_"Where are you? Jared's halfway through your patrol,"_ he replied, ignoring my attitude.

"I can't Jake; I can't come in," I said, brushing a thumb along her jawline. "Penn got attacked. She - - she's in bad shape," I whispered.

Jake's breathing cut off on the other end. "Is she going to be okay?" he finally asked. As far as Alpha's went, Jake was more understanding about imprints. We'd had enough drama with them all over the year.

"I don't know you," I admitted. "Carlisle said it she makes it through the night her chances of making it will be way better. But ... Man she's lost so much blood, Jake. I just - - I don't know how she can live after losing all of that, you know?"

"You can't think like that, Em," he said sternly. "It's not always about how much they lose. You've said that Penn is the most stubborn person you've ever met. If that's true, then she's not going to let this get her, Em. You just have to make sure that she's got somewhere there to make her feel safe and she'll do the rest," he promised.

"I can't lose her, Jake. I can't," I insisted.

"Annie and I will come over tomorrow and see f we can't help you with something," he replied. "And I'll let Paul know. I'm sure he and Charlie will be over there too." I nodded on the other side of the phone. "Keep calm, dude," he said. I nodded again. "I'll take you off the schedule for a while."

"Thanks Jake."

"We'll be over tomorrow." He hung up then without another word, but I'm sure he was turning around to tell his imprint about the attack.I stuffed my phone back down in my pants and laid my head down on her mattress, resting in the chair that Carlisle had pulled up. Just a little bit of rest and I could calm my nerves. It wasn't like the wolf in me was going to do much more than doze anyways. I gripped her hand between mine and pressed her knuckles to my lips. Just a little sleep.

A whimper followed by a moan sounded through the air a little while later. Although the sun shining in the windows said that it had been longer than I thought. Another quiet whine came through my senses. I sat upright, afraid that I was hurting her from where I was sitting, lying with my head against her thigh. "Penn? Penn are you awake?" She didn't say anything, but her heartbeat said that she was still awake. "You're safe, in your house," I whispered. "Carlisle will be back in just a little bit with some other stuff for you."

Unless of course Carlisle had already come while I was asleep. Her trembling and shaking began again and I could feel the fear radiating off of her. "No, no, Penn," I said, struggling to keep calm like Jake had told me to. "Not again, come one, stay with me." I cupped her face in my hands and brushed her cheekbones underneath my rough thumbs. "You go to stay with me this time. Come on," I begged. "Open your eyes." I couldn't let her sleep again, I couldn't let her go into shock again. "I'm right here. I'm going to protect you from it all. Just open your eyes." I prayed that it would be enough for her to look at me. "The nightmare's over. Come on."

Brilliant brown eyes peeked out at me from between black lashes. I beamed down at her. I had done it. She had survived the night. And more importantly, she was awake and looking at me. "Embry?" I smoothed down her hair, feeling the sweat underneath my hand from where her stress had caused her to perspire. I don't think my name had ever sounded as sweet as it did when she said it.

"I'm right here, Penn. You're okay. You're okay." I kept my hand on her hair, twining the wavy strands around my fingers.

"You're smiling," she said, confusion stealing over her features. I could see her coming through the glassiness of her eyes, though. The haziness of her fading as she regained consciousness.

"I must be happy then," I whispered, trying to keep from shouting with joy. Happy was an understatement. Elated or overjoyed might be more accurate. I smiled at her when she turned a more critical eye on me. She was coming back, she was fighting. She was going to make it through this.

"You're hotter when you're happy," she murmured.

"I'll keep that in mind," I chuckled. She blushed radish red and tried to turn her face away from me, but I only followed. "How are you feeling?" Would it really matter what she said? She would only tell me that she felt fine and I knew it would be a lie. "Are you in pain?" She couldn't lie to me about that one. If she said anything other than yes about it, I would know that she wasn't telling the truth.

"My stomach hurts," she breathed, "really bad." I sighed. I hadn't been expecting that answer from her. "And I, uh, I can't really move right now."

I decided to milk her honesty for all it was worth. "How bad does it hurt Penn?" She bit her lip a little and opened her mouth once, but quickly shut it again. "Don't lie to me," I begged. "I'm only trying to help you." She sighed and sunk back in the mattress, whimpering as some kind of pain hit her full force. She tried to roll on her side, but her ribs wouldn't allow it. "Slow down," I said, gently settling her back in the bed, my chest lined up against hers. "You're pretty banged up. You're going to have to take things slow."

The words weren't just for her though. I wanted her to heal and know that I was captivated by her. I wanted her to know that I was going to hold on to her for the rest of her life, make sure that she never knew pain again. And if I didn't listen to my own advice and take things slow, I would only end up scaring her off and losing her.


	24. Chapter XXIII

**Author's Note: I'm sorry that there wasn't a chapter up for this story yesterday. I nanny and the kids just got out of school so I'm trying to figure out our summer schedule. The updating times ****_might_**** be changing while I adjust to a recovering mother and two jobs. Super sorry! Enjoy!**

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**Chapter XXIII**

"No."

"Penn, he's just trying to help," Embry said. It had been a full twenty-four hours since the attack and now the doctor wanted to place a catheter. No; there was no fucking way that I was letting a man down there again. I had even gone out of my way to find a female doctor for anything and everything that I needed. Because of my injuries, I wasn't up for putting up a fight. But I really didn't want this man down there. "I'll be right here," he promised.

There were two distinct thoughts that came with that sentence. The first thing that popped into my head was relief. I really didn't want Embry to leave me. And it was ridiculous and completely nonsensical, but I felt so much better with him by my side. I was even letting him sit in the bed with me because it felt that much better to have him closer to me. But the next thought was fear. **_If_** I was letting that man anywhere near my vagina, the last person that I wanted in here was Embry. Dr. Cullen was going to the evidence that was written in scars across my body. And I had no doubt that Embry would _somehow_ find out about it. And then I would have explaining to do. "I can just get up and use the bathroom like a normal person," I suggested, but the words came out like gargled mush. I was still fighting the fog. It never seemed to leave.

"Miss Rivers, your injuries are too severe for me to allow regular excursions for the next week or two," the good doctor tried to explain. Using what was left of my energy, I slammed my legs together and crossed my ankles. These men were going to have to fight harder than any of the others that had been in my bed before if they wanted me to spread my legs. My eyes shifted from Embry's serious face to the doctor's contemplative one. "I'll give you some time to think, Miss Rivers."

Think about what? I wasn't letting him near my vagina. What was so difficult about that? "Penn, you can barely stay awake to fight with us about this. How do you think you're going to get up and out of your bed every time that you have to go to the bathroom?"

"In the old West they didn't have catheters," I muttered. Embry actually laughed.

"They also didn't have penicillin. Should we give up on that too?" I hated when he had valid points. "What about the nurse? Dr. Cullen's wife knows what she doing. Would you be willing to let her do it?" I considered for a minute. There had only been two women in my entire life that had hurt me. One of them was _her_. She'd walked out for her own selfish reasons. She'd told me that she would take me with her and she'd lied. And the other... She was a customer just like any of the men that had ever walked into the house.

And yet, a woman doing this was much less disconcerting than the doctor. So I nodded. "Carlisle," he called quietly, but his eyes never left me. The doc came back in with his wife right behind me. She smiled at me in that motherly way that I didn't want to see on the face of any woman ever again. Embry nodded to Carlisle who seemed to understand immediately. He explained what would happen, what I would feel, that no one would see anything. Embry began to wiggle away, but I grabbed his hand, stretching the IV tubes to the max. I may not want him to know what I looked like, to have reasons to question my past, but I didn't want him to leave. "Please," I begged.

He smiled and nodded, settling himself on the bed beside me again. The "procedure" didn't take very long. What did take forever was Carlisle's explanation of what Embry should do to keep it all neat and tidy. I'm pretty sure I was the color of a cherry tomato when he finished speaking. He gave me another injection of pain medication, sending the fog swirling in my brain again a few moments later.

Embry, acting completely at home in _my_ house, walked them out, making sure that I could hear his footsteps as he walked the couple out. He was back in my room faster than I think possible, gently climbing up on the bed. It was the first time that I was awake and not completely scared out of my mind. I can only imagine what kind of needy bitch I'd looked like the last time. I had vague recollections of grasping his shirt and begging him not to leave, telling him that Ken would come after me again. "Penn?" He was sitting beside me, stretched out in the same clothes that he'd worn the last time I remembered waking up. "I know that the club owner did this, but I need to know his name."

"His name isn't important," I muttered, wishing that he would pull me close like he had the last time.

What the _fuck_ was I saying? I didn't want anyone to touch, least of all a man. But he'd been so warm, so steady, so fucking comfortable. He hadn't shifted me in any way that was painful for me. When I'd woken up, his arm was underneath my head and the other was gently tossed over my body, his chin resting on the pillow just a few centimeters from my stitched shoulder. His face had only been inches away from mine when I'd opened my eyes. And as strange as it was, I had the urge to brush his hair out of his eyes when I'd woken up. "Why isn't his name important, Penn?"

His quiet question shook me out of my thoughts. I didn't need to be thinking about anyone like that, but of all the people to dream about Embry Call was the wrong one. He deserved to be with someone that could give him fat babies and a happy normal life. Not a girl who'd been attacked by a pimp she didn't even know she had. "Because he's done it to other girls before; girls who weren't quite as lucky as I was. And I'm a minor," I explained.

"What does that have to do with anything?" he demanded, obviously frustrated.

"If you go and report him, he'll tell them that I was a prostitute," I began but stopped when Embry's eyes darkened with anger. "I wasn't." _For him,_ my mind corrected. "But I was a minor and I shouldn't have been working in there."

"Penn, I don't give a fuck how old you are. You could have been nineteen and working in that club. He _attacked_ you. He tried to kill you. The people don't care about your age. The man still committed a crime," he said through tight lips.

"You don't understand, Embry," I replied. The drugs were making my mind swirl, taking away most of my decisions.

"You wouldn't tell me about him before." I nodded even though it wasn't a question. I was just trying to stay actively involved in the conversation so that I didn't fall asleep on him. "Can you tell me now? What's the worse that he can do?"

I tried to push myself upright, but only managed to hurt myself in the process. Embry made a very animalistic growling noise at me as he helped me readjust until the pain was gone. "It's not me that I'm worried about, Embry," I breathed. "He knows that Charlie is my cousin. He knows about her dad. And now... One of the girls told him about you, Em." His eyes sparked a little at the nickname. "If I report him, it's not just me that he'll come after. He'll try to hurt you Embry. He'll come after you, your mom, your friends. He'll do anything that he can to hurt you." The words seemed to be processing, but they didn't seem to make sense to him.

"Why? What would that do for him?" Was he seriously this dense or did he just enjoy torturing me?

"Because you're my friend," I said. "That's why I don't have friends. You'll only end up in danger because of me."

He snorted. "Let him come after me, Penn," he snarled. The sound sent warning shivers down my spine. "I'm just waiting on an excuse to tear him apart. He'll pay for what he did." I was fighting the fatigue so that I could tell him that he needed to be careful; he couldn't win against Ken. "He's never going to get to you again, Penn. I promise. That part of your life is over now, you hear me?" I nodded sluggishly.

Like he did when I'd awoken earlier, he kissed my temple and made a move to get off the bed. It was like my body wasn't listening to my mind. Or maybe my mind was just too tired to filter the words that were coming out of my mouth. But I reached out again and placed a hand on his arm, hoping it would be enough to pull him back to me. "Will you," I tried to say, but it didn't come out correctly at all. I would just have to hope that Embry would understand. "Like... Like last night?"

I heard a tight breath drawn in through his nose and then the rustling of my bedspread until he was lying on his side, his body pressed along the length of mine. One hand gently cupped my head and lifted while he slid his arm behind. Just as he had before, he rested his arm over my chest, careful to avoid the major stab wounds. Without thinking again, I turned my face towards the chest that was curled protectively around me and threaded the fingers of my hand with his, resting my other hand on his forearm. "Thank you," I muttered. He chuckled, but the sound was constricted.

"Good night, love," he replied, his lips finding their way to my temple again. And with him right there, his arms wrapped around me, I drifted off to a peaceful, drug induced sleep.


	25. Chapter XXIV

**Author's Note: Okay, I know that it's late. I'm really, super, ridiculously sorry. But I hope that you all enjoy the chapter. NO CHAPTERS TOMORROW. Father's Day is a little ridiculous around my family. Sorry; but I hope you guys like tonight's chapter. Also, prepare yourselves for a lot of Embry perspective in the next few chapters.**

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**Chapter XXIV:****_ Embry's Point of View_**

"How's she doing?" Paul asked as he stepped into the house the next morning. Penn had slept through the night, although not exactly peacefully. She'd screamed out a few times in her sleep, her hands clutching me like I was the air that she breathed. After, of course, she'd asked me if I could hold her while she was sleeping. I felt like I could float to the moon at that moment. But now she was asleep, Charlie sitting in the room with her, a book lying in her lap.

"She's banged up," I admitted. "And she's really hurt."

"I could see that," he countered, but I wasn't talking about her physical pain. That would be healed and could be handled with medication in the meantime. But she was so vulnerable at the moment, I wasn't sure how to handle it. I didn't want her realizing that she was letting down her guard and letting me in. She would only put up her walls again and I would lose the little parts of her that I was getting to see again.

"She's still scared," I said, not wanting to address just how many trust issues my imprint had. "She wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, telling me that Ken is coming after her."

Paul stiffened. "That his name?" I nodded. "What are you going to do?"

I had been thinking about it, thinking about the best way for Ken to know that he would never get to see my imprint again, never get to lay a finger on her _without_ killing the man or getting arrested. "I need you to call all the guys and Leah. I need the imprints, all of them, even Nate." It was hard to include Nate in things. He was a man, not someone that wanted to be around all the women but he wasn't a wolf. And that little fact meant that we wolves couldn't always include him in our plans. Always... Sometimes things worked out in his favor and tonight was one of those nights.

"You got a plan?"

"Fuck yeah," I whispered back. I left Paul to make all the plans for the Pack to show up at Penn's, wishing I could tell her all about it and make sure that she knew that these people were here for her. I'd just have to hope that having Charlie there with her would make a big enough difference to keep her calm. I shook Charlie's shoulder and looked straight at her when I spoke, trying to make sure she would understand me. "Can I just get a minute with her?"

She nodded and slapped her book shut, the sound echoing in the silence. I didn't take her place in the armchair that I had carried in from the living room. I rounded the bed and took my newfound place next to my imprint. She groaned and grumbled in her sleep, her mouth puckering in the most adorable pout I had ever seen. "I don't want to leave you here, Penn," I whispered. She turned her head towards me, drawn to the sound of my breath. The hand that always rested on her stomach wiggled its way to my forearm. "But I have to go take care of this. I really hope that you're not angry at me when you find out about this. I have to protect you, Penn Rivers. I haven't done a very good job of it so far. I'm going to change that, okay?" I leaned forward and pressed my lips to her cheek. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

I made sure to change the bandages on her wounds and made sure that everything else was exactly what Carlisle had told me it should be before I left her. Charlie replaced me, sending a reassuring smile towards me. The problem was that I could see her worry, her fear. She couldn't lose Penn any more than I could. "Take care of her, Charlie," I begged. She nodded and sauntered into the bedroom.

"What are we all here for?" Leah asked the second that I was in the living room. All the other imprints were in the kitchen, undoubtedly cooking up a storm of food they thought would be good for Penn to have when she was awake again. Nate, however, was sitting in the living room, uncomfortably perched on the couch like he was afraid to actually relax. I pointed to him but Leah help up a hand. "He doesn't take kindly to men beating on women. He's itching to tear the bastard apart."

"Good," I said louder. "Leah, you stay here. I need you to guard my girl."

"Where are you going? You think I'm just letting you take my imprint somewhere?" she snarled. We all knew how protective Leah could be of Nate, but my next sentence quickly disarmed her.

"I'm trusting you with mine." She sighed and the fight instantly drained out of her. She nodded slightly, although I could still hear her growling underneath her breath, and walked out to the kitchen to be with the other girls. "The man that we're going after is Ken Briggs. He's the one that attacked Penn." I wanted to go after Greg, the man who had threatened me with my life, told me that I needed to be careful with his girl. But at the end of the day, he was the one who had walked away from her.

I quickly explained my plan, especially the part that Nate would play. All the guys seemed to be on board, actually. Paul had a dangerous gleam in his eye. Penn was the cousin of his imprint, making her his family. And Paul LaHote took family very seriously. But Penn was my imprint. The wolf in me had been craving the blood of the man that had so seriously injured my mate. I was able to distract that part of my brain most of the day with the reminder that Penn needed me there. But now she was surrounded by a wolf and a family of people that were willing to lay down their lives for her. She had someone else that I could trust to protect her for the next couple of hours.

By the time all the official plans were made, the hour was upon us. Four in the morning, the same time that I'd told Penn I'd meet her three days earlier. Nate was walking alongside me and Jake, who was acting submissive to me for the first time in our lives. He understood the desire I had; he'd had the same thoughts about our chem teacher Mr. Murphy after the monster had assault Ryanne all those months ago. We were careful to walk, five miles nothing to us. Nate didn't seem to mind the distance either, but that was probably because he ran longer distances for his MMA training.

The neon lights of the club came into view and every fiber in my body bristled. I couldn't wait for this to be over. I crouched down and watched, all the others behind me in the same position, ready to pounce at the slightest moment's notice. Dim light flooded through the doors as they were opened and the greasy man stepped out. I was more wolf than man then. I jumped forward and came crashing down on him. I snarled and barked and growled like the dog that I was, fighting the urge to rip his throat out when he screamed. It would be so satisfying to have his blood flowing down his neck after all the blood he'd caused my mate to spill.

The others leapt forward, barking and snapping, acting like they were going to get him to. In the brief moment that I'd let him go so that he could try to get away, Paul had taken a good snap at him, startling the bastard and sending him down to the Earth. "Go away!" he screamed at us. Jake jumped at him then, shortly followed by Jared and Sam. Quil was still shaking, his anger not yet going away.

This was the first time that I had phased since her attack and as I stared at the man who had caused my imprint so much pain, the memories of finding her came flooding back to me. The Pack could see her in my head, her blood, her fear, the knife that was sticking out of her gut. But I wasn't so far gone that I couldn't keep control of my thoughts. I was careful not to think about anything that would betray Penn, nothing that would shatter her strong persona. But the guys were only seeing these images for the first time. They knew that Penn was in bad shape, that she'd been beaten pretty good. But to see her like I had, to listen to her heart barely beating in her chest... That was completely different.

The anger receded and revenge took its place. I sprung again, my paws catching the asshole's shoulders and forcing him to the ground. I half hoped that his head would catch a rock and all Penn's problems would be gone. "Boys down," Nate called. Oh, right; that's what I had brought him for. Without him there to speak for us, this attack could just be some wild animals. "Back off," he said with a look at me. I growled, my muzzle only a centimeter from the disgusting excuse for a man below me. "Off."

I growled at Nate, knowing that he was only playing his part, but still not liking getting bossed around. Not with this jackass so close. Still, I shoved off of him and sat back on my haunches, waiting for the chance to spring again and tear him to shreds. "You're Ken Briggs, right?" Nate asked solicitously.

"Who's asking?"

"You hurt someone I care about," Nate continued. "And someone _they_ care about," he added, gesturing to the Pack. We all growled, standing in a circle around the club owner. "We need to talk."


	26. Chapter XXV

**Author's Note: Maybe it's just me, but it really feels like ages since I updated. Anyways, here's tonight's chapter!**

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**Chapter XXV:****_ Embry's Point of View_**

"About what?" Ken asked. His eyes went wide and his throat bobbed as he swallowed. His heartbeat was beating out of his chest. I could hear Paul licking his chops beside me, Jake growling, Quil barely holding his bark in place. Seth was pacing nervously, his own snarl building in the back of his throat. Even Colin and Brady, little as they were, were here for their pack sister. "I didn't do nothing."

"You left her for dead," Nate said. I snarled and jerked towards her, but Nate shot me a look. "And she's our family." He looked around at each of us, his eyes falling on me. I took another step forward, daring him to say something else to me. "She just wants to quit her job here. Let her quit and we'll leave you alone." Like hell would we leave him alone. He needed to be left within an inch of his life, like what he'd done to her. I wanted to bite him, squeeze him, feel his lungs grasp desperately at the air.

"She's mine, you fucker," Ken retorted.

When we wolves were in human form, we were still intimidating. All of us were well over six foot, well built, broad shouldered, with cropped hair. And Nate, though he wasn't a wolf, was no different. He was a few inches over six foot and just as broad as the rest of us. His MMA training and time as a Marine had given him a similar physique to ours. He was a little bulkier than the rest of us, his training not being for running but for pummeling. And we saw the power behind his blow in the next instant. With his fist wrapped around the asshole's collar, he socked him straight across the jaw. "You think it's funny to beat up a woman?" he snapped.

I growled and jumped forward, snarling at the vermin. He screamed and jumped about a mile away. If it wasn't for Nate's hand wrapped around the fabric of his shirt, I'm sure he would have been gone. "You know who we're talking about now, right?" he snarled. I was glad that I'd thought to bring him. Leah doing this job would have been far less frightening.

"I warned the bitch what would happen if she told anyone," Ken coughed. If that man tried even in the slightest to come after her family - -

_After her family?_ Paul snarled.

_He's threatening her with Charlie and everyone else that she knows. Even me and my mom,_ I explained.

_That's why she wouldn't quit,_ Jake deduced. I nodded.

_Let him try to come after my imprint,_ Paul snarled. I was just glad that someone else understood what I felt. Nate hauled the guy towards us. "And I'm telling you that she told us. Let's just get this straight, you come after anyone in our family, they're coming after you." As if to probe a point, each of us crouched lower in our stances. I leapt towards him, coming up short when Nate turned them so that his back was to me. I slid to a stop and snarled. "This one," Nate said, shoving a thumb over his shoulder at me, "he's going to rip you apart."

"That's murder," he coughed, but I could smell the fear rolling off of him.

"That's what you were going to do to her," Nate retorted. "Wasn't that your whole plan? You wanted to leave her within inches of her life and walk away, right? You tried to kill her."

"She knew what she was getting into when she signed up to be with me. Underaged or not, that's her signature on that line. She knew that she would be mine when she started this. You think a judge is going to rule anything in her favor? She's no better than a whore!" Nate stepped aside then, giving me permission to jump on him. My paws landed on his shoulders and threw him to the ground. I snapped and growled in his face, wishing that I could cause actual pain in a good conscious. I was supposed to be a guardian of human life, a Warrior for peace. I couldn't kill the man no matter how much he deserved it. Everything in my gut screamed out that he wasn't a human. He was a monster. He was the reason that the peace in my life had been shattered. As a warrior, I should destroy him and end the threat. And I couldn't.

But it didn't stop me from scaring him shitless.

I wrapped my teeth around his shirt and tried to lift him, but I only ended up ripping the fabric. Biting him wasn't killing him. Hell, any _dog_ would bite to protect its owner. And that's what I was supposed to be. I was supposed to be her pet and I was just protecting my mistress. With that in mind, I sank my fangs into his shoulder, listening to the satisfying scream of pain that echoed in the forest. _Paul,_ I invited.

That was all that he needed. He sprung from his position and sank his own teeth into the man's calf. He screamed again. Jake was next, Seth and Quil shortly after until, one by one, the entire Pack was in. And to his own credit, Nate stood against a tree trunk and watched us terrorize the monster who had almost killed my girl. It was about ten minutes later, the smell of blood flooding in the air, when Nate shoved away from the tree. "Enough; stop, stop," he commanded, still pretending to be our master. We all backed down, but Nate ran his fingers through my fur and let me walk along side him to where the man was lying on the ground curled in a ball. "This was a warning," Nate said in a way that was so wolflike, I wondered if he had just been spending too much time with all of us. "You come after our girl, you come after our family, and you won't live to regret it."

I growled in agreement. "Penn Rivers is no longer a part of your establishment," Nate sneered. "You come near her, they'll end you. Are we clear?" Ken struggled to his feet but didn't answer. Instead, he shot Nate a threatening look. The Marine in him didn't take too kindly to that. He sent a hard, well practiced fist into the man's gut. "We clear?"

"Yeah," Ken coughed. "We're clear." I humphed and nodded my head in one sharp motion. We waited until he was steadily on his feet and limping off towards his car. Clearly we hadn't roughed him up _too_ much. He would probably need some stitches, but really what could he say at the hospital? A man and some horse-sized wolves had attacked him in the forest. Maybe some wolves were believable, but he owned a strip club on the edge of a forest that was known to have a wolf problem. And who would believe that a man had control over a pack of wild wolves?

I stayed long enough to watch him walk to his vehicle and drive away. While the others walked at Nate slow pace, I was sprinting the short distance to the house. Nate didn't feel comfortable _riding_ any of us, although he used Leah as his excuse for it. I just needed to get back to my imprint as quickly as I could. And when I got to the house, I was glad that I had left the rest of the Pack behind. I could hear Leah shouting, trying to get everyone else to calm down, but beneath all the heartbeats and heavy breathing, I could hear Penn. I could smell her, the fear that mingled with the honeysuckle scent of her. I did what any rational wolf would do: I phased and pulled pants on and ripped the front door off the hinges.

I ignored everyone else and marched straight to her bedroom, not really caring what was going on or what people were trying to say to me. Charlie was sitting on the edge of the bed, trying desperately to get Penn to wake up. "Please don't hurt them! I'm sorry!" she screamed. "No, please." I touched Charlie's shoulder, watching her jump a mile in the air.

"I've got it," I promised her.

_"Please let me see her after; please. I need to know that she's okay."_ Her signs were flying in the air so quickly that I struggled to figure them all out. But I was able to understand and I nodded, knowing that Charlie was just as important to Penn. I didn't bother to wait for Charlie to leave the room. I crossed the floor and crawled up on the bed. I could feel the ghost pain on my side, a sign that Penn was ripping stitches and pulling her ribs in ways that they weren't ready for yet. Gently, I laid a hand on each shoulder and pressed her into the mattress.

"No, please don't! Please!" she sobbed. The words wrung my heart. I never wanted to hear that tone from her when I was the one touching her. "Embry!" she shouted. My heart stopped. It didn't matter what was attacking her in her dreams; she called out for me. "Help me! Please, Embry. Please! Embry!" Now that I'd heard her say it again, I shook myself out of my stupor. I jolted her a little, feeling Penn's pain increase in my body. She moaned and I dropped my hold on her arms.

"Penn, look at me. Come on, I'm right here," I said, deciding that the best place to hold her was her cheeks. I rested my forehead against hers and took a deep breath. "Sh, Penn; you're safe."

"He's going to get you, Embry," she replied. Her heartbeat began to slow, her chest still heaving but not like it had been. I pressed a kiss to her nose, about to open my mouth when she opened her eyes. The brown stared back at me, concern and unguarded emotion that I had never seen before shining in them. "You're going to pay for being around me, Embry. He's going to come after you," she whispered. I think my heart broke.

"He's never going to get you again, Penn," I promised her.

"You can't -"

"I already dealt with it," I interrupted. "The guys and I took care of him, Penn. He's never going to bother you again."

"Never?" she whispered. I could see the cautious hope in her eyes. And all I could think about was how long she'd been suffering at his hands.

I pulled away and kissed her forehead, lingering there. Her good hand came up to my chest. I'm sure she was expecting to find a shirt, but even after she'd fell my bare skin she didn't move. My heart thudded in my chest. "You're done working there, Penn. It's over." I stopped hovering over her and laid myself down by her side.

"I woke up and you weren't here," she muttered. My heart stuttered. "I - - I'm sorry that I went a little crazy."

"Sh, Penn," I said, trying to tug her closer without hurting her. "I had to go and deal with Ken. I'm sorry that I was gone for so long."

"It's okay," she said, looking away from me.

"It's not, Penn," I said, grasping her chin and pulling her around to meet my gaze. "I want you to know that you can rely on me. I tried to be back sooner, but I couldn't get here."

"It's fine, Embry," she repeated but the look in her eyes said that it wasn't fine. I narrowed my eyes as I surveyed her. Behind the hard steel, there was a layer of fear underneath it.

"Why were you so afraid when I wasn't here?" I asked her. Her lower lip quivered, her eyes darting between my face and the space above me. I stayed silent, trying to keep myself still. I didn't want to push her. "Penn?" I said after almost five minutes. I couldn't take much more. I leaned over her and brushed my knuckles across her cheeks. She shivered, but her eyes slid closed. "What's wrong?"

"I thought he was going to get me," she admitted. "Ken knows everything about everyone." She tucked herself a little closer to my side and my lips twitched. "I - - I feel safe with you here, Embry."

I smiled fully then. She tried to roll on her side but only ended up groaning and hissing in pain. "Good," I replied. "You are safe, Penn."


	27. Chapter XXVI

**Author's Note: I know there was no chapter yesterday and I'm sorry. Much love and thanks for all the support. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter XXVI**

"How do you know that he's not coming back?" I demanded of Embry. He was sitting next to me on my bed, his face serious. "And where did you get this from?" I asked, lifting the mug enough so that the straw could reach my lips and I could sip the lukewarm broth down my throat.

"Emily and Ryanne made it," he replied. "And trust me, Ken won't be back." He sounded so sure of it and even if I didn't have enough energy to argue with him, I was desperate to make him understand that Ken would never quit.

"He's not - - You didn't kill him, did you?" I begged. I couldn't stand for him to live with the pain of committing a murder. I had read that it could tear a man apart.

"No, Penn; he's still alive," he replied. He kept him alive? I had seen the anger on Embry's face when he'd gotten back. I could see the pain and the hurt. He hated Ken in every sense of the word.

"How?" I muttered to myself.

"I brought the guys with me. They wanted to protect you, too," he explained. I scoffed.

"Why would they want to protect me? They don't even know me," I retorted. Embry crawled over to where I was lying.

"They don't have to know you, Penn. _I_ care about you. We're a close ground and we protect our own," he explained. Thunder clapped through the air. I jumped a mile in the air, crying out when the pain shot through me. "Scared of a little thunder?" he teased, but I shook my head. My heart pounded in my chest, the fucking traitor. "It's not going to get you." It wasn't that I thought that the thunder could come and get me. It was the memories that came with it. It sounded again and I leapt involuntarily. "Okay, calm down," he said placatingly. "You'll rip your stitches." His hand wrapped around my shoulders and pressed me down into the sweat soaked mattress. "Why are you afraid? Do we need to sing that song from that movie with Julie Andrews?" I shook my head. "Then tell me what's wrong."

I couldn't; it would only end poorly for me. He would learn about the past that I kept buried deep down, beneath the scar tissue and the heart I pretended to have. He sighed harshly. It couldn't be easy to be around me. I was so certain that today would be the day that he would give up that I was shocked when he was peeling the blankets back from me. "Let's get the wounds cleaned up and then we'll move you so I can get new sheets for your bed," he suggested instead. "Maybe we can braid your hair or something before she shows up."

"Who shows up?" I demanded.

"My mother." He said it so calmly that I almost would have thought he was talking about the weather or the paint in the room. "I assume you don't want to see her with your hair all crazy around your face. Although I kind of like it this way," he remarked.

"Why is your mother coming to my house?" My heart was hammering against my ribs. I'm sure the house was a mess. I didn't want anyone in my house on a good day, never mind a day like this. "I have to get things together." I knew it wasn't the correct response, but I had nothing else to say. "Why is she coming here?" God, I wasn't making a lick of sense here.

Embry chuckled. "Your making sense, Penn. Mom was wondering where I've been for the last two days and I explained what happened." I shoved myself upright, feeling blood start to trickle down my abdomen. "Stop that, you're going to hurt yourself!" he screamed at me.

"You told your mother that I'm a stripper?" I questioned in outrage. "You said that I could trust you. I told you things. Things I've never told anyone else!"  
"I didn't tell my mother that you're a stripper," he said, completely disarmed. His arms were suddenly underneath me, lifting me from the bed. Balanced in one arm and cuddled against his chest, he pulled the blankets down until it was just the sheets. My linens, usually cream and soft, were stained with blood and stiff. Embry carefully laid me back down. I was struggling to get a full breath of air. "I told her that you were attacked working your night job. That's all I said," he said, pushing the sheet aside so that I was lying in a cropped shirt and some cotton shorts. "Let's clean the wounds and get you a little more comfortable."

His hand came to rest on my thigh and I was suddenly anywhere but in my bed. I could feel the cold sweat start t roll down my neck. Goosebumps rushed to the surface. "No, please, I'm sorry," I could hear myself whispering. "I'll be a - a - a good girl. I'm sorry." I could feel the thumb stroking circles on my inner thigh, tears jumping into my eyes. "Please, I'll do anything else. Just not this; not again."

And then it was gone.

"Penn." The single name was so pained, so hurt I thought I might cry just hearing it. "Come back to me, Penn. It's just me; it's just Embry." The hand was gone but I could still feel the ghost touching me, moving up my chest. I whimpered, wishing it would just stop. I didn't trust anyone because it would all happen again. "Come back to me. You're safe." It was like listening through cotton. Suddenly, a warm presence appeared by my side, a _real_ hand on my hair. "Sh," he begged. "Penn."

I opened my clenched eyes, trying desperately to see through the tears there. "Embry," I managed to say. I was going to have to explain it to him. He was going to ask now. This had been worse than any of the other times. I was sobbing almost uncontrollably, trying to tell myself that every thing was fine. That it was just Embry.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said. His hand slid down my thigh again. "Sh, Penn. It's just Embry. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to touch you." I'd heard that statement before, so many times when I was a little kid. Why would I believe it now? "I'm just going to clean you up, okay? It's just me." It was just Embry. It was all going to be okay. He wasn't going to hurt me. A cold cloth rubbed against my leg, just short of my hemline. Gently, it rounded over my thighs and down my knee. I was waiting for it to be over, for the pain to start, for the promise to be broken.

But even once he'd finished one leg, he only moved to the other leg. He lifted the edge of my bandage, the cloth coming back with renewed coolness. I could feel the stinging in my thigh as he carefully cleaned the wound. I didn't feel my shorts moving, but I the wipe was moving up over my hip. "The top of it is nice and healed," he said conversationally. "Don't need to keep that part wrapped up. But the bottom's still deep and it tends to leak a little." I heard the bandage being opened before he pressed it to my skin. "We'll deal with your stomach in a little."

After he'd finished cleaning the wound and my leg, he moved to my waist. I tensed again, my muscles pulsing at his touch. "My mom is worried about you," he began while rubbing around my major stab. "She just wants to come over and make you some food. Plus, she doesn't think that I'm doing a good enough job watching after you." Again, he gently covered the center wound. "I wasn't sure if you wanted her to be here, but no matter how much I told her no, she kept insisting. I, uh," he stammered, looking down at my stomach. His cheeks tinged pink. "I was kind of hoping that you would be asleep when she got here. You've been through a lot." His knuckles brushed the underside of my exposed breast and I sucked in a tight breath, fear coursing through me again. But he made no movement to do anything more to me.

He cupped my face in one hand. "Last thing," he muttered. The cloth, which discovered was a baby wipe, gently rubbed over my face. I longed to take a shower but knew that I wouldn't be able to handle it. I was just glad that I felt so clean now. "There," he said. "Charlie said she'd change your clothes with you tomorrow. Or I could have Leah help you. She's a little stronger so she'd be able to lift you easier."

I didn't want someone who I didn't know helping me. And I definitely didn't want Charlie trying to help me; Embry was right about her being too weak. "Maybe... Would you be able -" Able wasn't the right word. He was more than capable of lifting me and dressing me. "Could _you_ help me change tomorrow?"

"Sure," he said. "If that's what you want. Now, let's get your bed cleaned up." His arm wrapped around my shoulders and another was under my knees. I whimpered as the pain shot up my spine. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. Let's get you moved over to the couch for a little while, okay?" I nodded against his chest, wishing that I could just stay there. "Let's sit you up a little," he suggested then. The pillows that he arranged behind me were wonderfully soft. I'm pretty sure they weren't my couch cushions. "Let me go make the bed. Just call if you need anything, okay?" I nodded, unable to say anything else.

Not because of the pain or the breathlessness, but because I really liked Embry Call. I felt like I was being pulled towards him. And it went beyond just feeling safe. The warmth and joy that I felt when he was next to me was something that I had never experienced before. I trusted him to take care of me, to keep me out of harm's way, to protect my secrets. I was - - I was falling for Embry Call.


	28. Chapter XXVII

**Author's Note: Please see my profile for the new update times. Everything is going to be changing so that I can be a good author and update like I would love to be. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter XXVII**

"Penn?" Something rough rubbed over the back of my hand and pulled me from my sleep. "Let's go back to the bedroom, sweetheart. Come on," he said. The hand that was scrubbing at my skin began to gently stroking my waist. I pried open my eyes and looked up at Embry. "Here we go." He slid his hand underneath my waist and one beneath my thighs. I bit down on my lip and tried to stifle the groan as he lifted me to his chest. "Sh, sh, it's okay. Let's get you into bed." I felt cold underneath me and wrapped my arms around Embry's neck.

"Cold," I muttered, still half asleep.

"I know, but once you're laying down it'll warm up," he replied. He ducked out of my arms and rested my bruised hand over my stomach. "I'm going to get some tea started for Mom. Do you want some broth or some tea?"

"I don't want anything," I replied.

"Too bad, Penn. Broth or tea?"

"Tea," I conceded. He nodded and brought the blankets up to my chin, smoothing out all the wrinkles there before he turned to leave. "Embry?" I muttered. Was it really that bad? Did I really want him around me that much? The answer: yes. "Thank you." Thank you for not asking questions. Thank you for being here with me. "Thank you for saving my life," I finally settled on. He came back immediately and pressed his lips to the top of my head. It sent electricity shooting through my spine and I couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like to have him kiss me. Like, _really_ kiss me.

"I'll braid your hair when I come back with your tea, okay?" I nodded. "And Penn?" I raised my chin to look up at him. "I'm glad that you're still here with me." I didn't want to be anywhere else. Of course, I didn't say that out loud. No, instead I just smiled at him and watched him walk out the bedroom door.

I needed to get a hold of myself. Because not only was I allowing a man in my room, I wanted him to sit in my bed with me. I wanted him to hold me while I slept. Because in _his_ arms, I didn't dream about all the demons that haunted me. Embry had made himself completely at home here in my house. And I liked it. "Oh dear," a feminine voice said a few minutes later. "Oh sweetheart," she continued. A hand brushed my forehead, but it wasn't nearly as warm as Embry's. I tried to pull away, pain shooting up my back and jolting out through my limbs. "It's okay, sweetie; it's just Lucy," she murmured. I told myself to calm down. This was just Embry's mom... but that didn't explain why Embry wasn't in here with me.. with us.

"Mom!" he exclaimed. I sagged in relief. My brain knew that his mother would never heart me. My body just hadn't figured out that I _could _be safe without Embry. "I didn't think you were going to be here for another five minutes or so!" I heard china clinking be my side and thundering footsteps.

"I just got here. The front door was open," she explained.

"You should have come and seen me first," he whispered. I'm sure I wasn't intended to hear it. "Penn, you okay?" His hand replaced his mother's and I could hear more muttering, more words that I didn't quite understand. "Penn?" he asked again, probably having realized that I hadn't answered him.

"I'm fine," I promised him, prying my eyes open to see him hovering over me and his mother just behind him. "It's okay." His mother looked terrified, like she didn't want to believe that this could happen to someone. "I'm feeling better," I swore. It was the truth too. Embry was still standing beside me. I was in clean sheets and felt relatively clean. Relatively. I still wanted to wash away the feeling of those men on my skin, but I had been trying to do that for nearly a decade now and I had never succeeded.

"Mom, there's some of your scones in the oven. Do you think that you could go grab them? They're just heating," Embry said. Lucy nodded and turned to get her treats. My stomach rumbled at the thought of the delicious snacks. "I didn't know that she was going to be here already," he said. "I'm so sorry, Penn."

"It's really fine, Embry. I'm okay," I said. I had never had anyone care about me the way that he was. I didn't mean just the way that he had stuck by me and protected me and clean my wounds. I meant in his worrying about me, in the fact that he was constantly thinking about what I would be feeling. "She scared me a little," I admitted. I owed it to him to be honest...as honest as I could be. "But once I realized that it was her I was okay." That was a lie; I hadn't been completely okay. He didn't need to know that, though. I was already taking advantage of him and relying on him in ways that I shouldn't be. He sighed heavily, his face becoming a hard mask. I didn't like that. He was so much nicer to look at when he was smiling. "Didn't you say that you would braid my hair? I'd like it out of my way," I found myself whispering. A small smile lit up his face.

"I'm going to sit you up a little bit, okay?" I nodded, feeling his strong arms slide underneath me. I kept a tight breath while he helped me sit up. I tried to hold some of my weight, but it only caused the throbbing pain to increase. "I've got you, love," he promised. I frowned a little at the nickname, but I was pretty sure he'd said it before. "Don't try to help me; I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He settled himself behind me then, my back resting flush against his chest while my head was flopping against his neck.

Thick fingers that I could imagine inflicting the most insufferable pain slid their way into my hair. Gently, his digits began massaging my scalp, the pressure so intensely delicious I moaned. And then he parted my hair and began braiding. "Where'd you learn this?" I asked as he began grabbing another section of hair and adding it into his braid.

"My mom taught me," he said. "She's coming back now," he announced after a few more moments. I felt him lean over and grab a hair band off of my nightstand. He tied off the braid, but didn't do much else. I could feel his nose buried in my hair, his chest rising and falling behind me. "We should lie you back down," he finally said. I could hear his mother's footsteps echoing in my hallway. He began wiggling to get me to sit up a little more.

"No," I whispered. I wanted to be sitting up for company. And I liked sitting up with Embry behind me; it didn't hurt nearly as much with him right there. "I, um, I want to be up to talk with your mom. You could stay here behind me?"

"If you want; otherwise I can get you some pillows," he replied nonchalantly. Everything was if I wanted. "I'll only stay if you drink this," he amended, handing me a coffee mug. Okay, maybe not _everything_. I held the cup in my hands and let the added warmth seep into my skin while I sank farther into Embry's chest. My eyes slid closed as I relished in the feeling of safety and protection.

"Who did this to you, Penn?" Lucy asked. Her quiet voice pulled me out of my happiness and into reality. Embry began shaking underneath me, a growl building in his chest and vibrating me. I shifted myself a little and it suddenly stopped.

"Why don't think that we need to talk about that right now, Mom," he said in a deeper voice.

"I understand if you don't want to sweetheart," she quickly said. "I was just wondering who could do this to someone. Please, don't let me upset you." I shook my head and took a gulp of tea. It wasn't hot, but the feeling of it sliding down my barely moist throat was worse than it being searing hot. "Embry, didn't you let that tea cool off?" she demanded, her hand coming out to smack him behind his head.

"Ow! Yes, Mom, I did; you okay, Penn?" he asked, one of the arms around my waist releasing me to rub his hair.

"I haven't had anything to drink in a while. It wasn't too hot or anything," I assured them both. "He's been taking good care of me," I said to her, nestling deeper into Embry's chest. Because God forbid I put any space between me and him. I don't think that my heart could handle it.

"He better be; I'll have to come and kick his ass if not," she threatened. I laughed, but it only speared me with pain. "Oh sweetheart," she murmured, stepping closer. I felt her settle herself on the bed beside me and Embry, her hand resting just above my knee. "Embry will just have to stay with you until you're safe again. We'll catch the bastard, Penn," she assured me. "I'll bring some of your things over tomorrow, Em." A timer beeped in the room and I jumped. Embry tightened his grip on my waist. Lucy didn't appear to have noticed my fear. "I should get going. That was the timer for my yeast. I'll see you both tomorrow," she said.

Lucy Call leaned down and pressed her lips against Embry's cheek and then my forehead. "You're going to be okay, Penn," she whispered with a glance at Embry. "I'll see you tomorrow." I nodded at her, unsure what to say to her. "Watch out for her," she said with a decided look at her son.

Embry watched her walk out, but didn't move beyond settling me against him. "Is that really what it feels like?" I whispered to him. He lifted me and turned me so that I was sitting across his lap with my head lying against his shoulder. I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be as tired as I was. I had done little more than sit there and talk but I felt like I had run a marathon.

"What what feels like?" he asked me.

"To have a family. Is that what it feels like to have a family?" I asked again. He didn't say anything and I didn't want to look up and see him begging for answers. "You know, to have someone there for you? Like, is it normal for all families or is it just your mom?"  
"Who care about each other?" I nodded. "I don't know, Penn. I'm not really an expert on families. Remember, it's only ever me and my mom." I could feel the energy draining out of me like I had been sprinting all day. "I think, in a normal family, they care about each other like that. I mean, I've always considered my mom to be relatively normal." I felt the stab in my heart. There were plenty of people that didn't have the family that he was describing.

"Not all parents are like that," I muttered.

"Do you like this, Penn?" he asked. I thought that he was asking about being in his arms and I flushed, wanting to tell him the truth but not wanting to admit just how much I liked being here with him. "Do you like feeling like you have a family?"

"Yes," I whispered without hesitation.

I was starting to fall asleep, my energy flagging. I felt his hands around my waist, just barely brushing the lower part of my breasts. But for the first time, I wasn't terrified. In fact, I felt safe with him there. "I'm glad," he replied. "We should lay you back down." I gripped his arms as he slid away from me.

"Not on my back, Em. Please. I can't do it anymore," I begged him. I felt like I had seen nothing but the ceiling in ages, even if it had only been a day or two. "Please, just let me sleep on my side or my stomach or -"

"Okay, Penn, okay," he said, lifting me like a doll in his arms. I tried not to hiss and cry out as he placed me in the dead center of the bed, turned on my side. One hand held me still while my pulse raced with pain and Embry shoved a row of pillows behind my back. I sank into it gratefully, allowing most of my weight to roll into the cushions.

"Where are you going to sleep?" I realized I was sitting in the middle of the bed with very limited room on either side of me.

"I'll sleep on the couch," he promised. I didn't like that. At all. His hand found its way to my hair, brushing over my locks with a smile on his face. "I'm glad that you're alive, Penn," he whispered. "It's been two days since you've been able to form full sentences."

"I resent that," I muttered tiredly.

"I'll just be in the -"

"Could you sleep in here?" His hand stopped petting my hair. "You - you don't have to if you don't want to," I added, realizing that he probably thought I was the stupidest girl to walk the face of the Earth. Of course, he'd only been staying with me because he wasn't sure if I was going to make it through the night. There was no real risk of that now. And no _real_ reason for him to be with me throughout the night.

"Believe me when I say that I want to," he replied. "I just thought that you wouldn't want me here once you were feeling better. I don't want you to feel like you have to do things for me or to make me happy." Oh if he only knew how it made my insides crawl when he would put his arm around me and pull me tight to his chest.

"I know that you're tired, Embry. Come on," I managed to say. It was like I didn't need to tell him again. He was in bed next to me in a flash, gently wiggling his way underneath the blankets. He was close to me, but still hanging off the edge. "You can come closer. I don't bite when I've only just been attacked," I teased. He cautiously brought himself closer until he was lying with his chest flush to most of mine, my nose rubbing against his shirt fabric.

"I don't want you to think that you have to do anything, Penn. I'm here to make all of this easier; to help you."

"I don't need help," I replied. He began stroking my hair again and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"We'll see about that, love."


	29. Chapter XXVIII

**Author's Note: I'm just reminding everyone that this story is a little slow, so if you'll all just stick with me, I'll try my best not to disappoint you all. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter XXVIII**

I opened my eyes the next morning to see probably the greatest thing I had ever seen. Embry Call had his arm wrapped around my waist, his fingertips playing with the exposed skin on my back. And lying in front if me was his bare, well sculpted chest. The hormone gods clearly hated me because my fingers on my good hand began tracing each line and ridge of his abs. I tilted my head back from its spot against his chest to look up at him.

In sleep, there were no frown lines, no desperation creases. In his peaceful slumber, he was smiling and looked as happy as I remembered him the first time I opened my eyes. And I found myself smiling, plotting things that I could do and say that would make him smile like that again. I had to stop this, to get rid of these emotions before it was too late. Or tell him the whole truth.

I couldn't do that. He'd walk away from me before I could see straight. But... But what if he didn't? What if all the garbage he'd been saying about sticking around was true? It would only be fair that he had the chance to amend those statements. The only real way that he could decide it was me that he wanted was by knowing everything about me; the truth that I had never told anyone. I looked back up in his face. "Please don't hate me, Embry," I muttered. His muscles in his face twitched and for a brief second, I thought he'd awoken. But he merely shifted so that my face was somewhere beneath his chin, the thick bone coming to rest on top of my sweaty hair. "I've never wanted to be around someone like I want to be around you." I didn't need him to love me or to promise that he would never think about it again. I just needed him to be around.

His breathing sped up a little beneath my nose. I leaned back, using the arm that was around me to brace myself. "Morning," he said, his voice gravelly and thick with sleep. "Are you okay?" I nodded. "Are you sure? No pain, no dry throat?" There was some pain, but I was afraid that if I said that, he'd leave this bed and my little bubble of peace would burst. So I shook my head. "I thought we were past the point of lies," he muttered. Leave it to me to hurt him when all I was trying to do was make him happy.

I sighed. "Yes, I'm in pain." He lifted his arm from my waist so I surged forward. "But I'm so comfortable right now, I don't want to move." A smile the likes of which I had never seen lit up his face. "If I promise to tell you when it gets to be too much to handle, can we just sit here for a little?"

"You swear you'll tell me?" I nodded vigorously, my body tingling at the thought of getting to keep him close for a little while longer. I dozed a little while longer, listening to his thudding heartbeat with closed eyes. It was like a steady drum that promised security and warmth. "I didn't know you had such bad nightmares," he whispered. I stiffened. I hadn't remembered having any nightmares last night. "I had to keep waking you up to stop you from ripping any more stitches."

"Last... Last night?" I felt so safe with him that I couldn't imagine thrashing and trying to escape.

"No, actually last night was the first night that you weren't fighting," he whispered. I blushed, hoping he wouldn't figure out why that was. The look in his eyes, however, hinted that he might. "You know, today is day three. You could shower if you wanted to." The thought of warm water rushing down my spine sent shrivers down my spine. Clean hair, a warm towel... It all sounded so amazing at the moment. "I take it you'd like that?" I nodded Again, biting my lip in anticipation. "You want to do that now or in a little?"

I was torn at that. I wanted to stay here in his arms with my face lying against his chest. But I so wanted to feel clean again. I guess Embry would still be around the house when I was done in the shower. "Why don't we just take you to the shower? You'll be more comfortable after that," he suggested. "Come on; put your arms around my neck." His hands grasped my wrists gently and guided my arms to his neck.

"How long is this supposed to hurt?" I asked as he cradled my body in his arms. I was grunting with the effort of not crying out. I was shocked when he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my temple. Electricity shot through me like a rocket, warmth pooling in the pit if my stomach.

"I'm sorry that it hurts, sweetheart." Why did he keep calling me those little pet names? Didn't he understand that I could never actually be those things for him? Probably not. It all boiled down to the same fucking thing. I had to tell him the truth. "Once the whole thing heals, it will be easier for you. Carlisle said about a week and a half."

And then he'd leave. I sighed. A week and a half and then Embry would be finished with his responsibility towards me.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said, anger leaking a little into his concerned voice.

"What?"

"You said that I'd be finished with you after a week and a half. And the I'd leave," he said more venom seeping into his tone. "I'm not going anywhere Penn. There is nothing you can say or do that will make me want to leave you." I bit my lip and looked away from his face, staring down at his chest. "Why won't you look at me!?" I flinched even though he hadn't yelled at me. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to say it like that. I just - - I wish you could see things the way that I do, that's all."

"It's fine, Embry." I don't know what he wanted me to see, but clearly I had upset him. That was the last thing that I was trying to do.

"Carlisle said that this was the set up for the bathroom. You can sit here and lean back against the wall. Let me just grab -"

"I've got it," I said sharply.

Penn, you need help. Just let me -"

"I said I've got it. Just put me down and I'll take care of it myself," I snapped.

"At least let me call Charlie or -"

"Put me down!" I snarled. "I don't need any help." He gentle set me down on the chair that he had set up in the shower for me, a handle bar I'd never had before stuck to the wall.

"Just call out if you need any help," he whispered before he closed the door with a click. Great; now I'd hurt his feelings.

Shoving down the unnamable emotion that was clawing at my throat and reached for my shirt. I tried desperately to pull my crop top off my body, put every time I tried to reach over my head, I felt a tight pulling in my ribs that forced me to curl back up into a ball. I couldn't get the cotton shorts off either. So I gave up and grabbed the shower handle and turned the water on. It soaked through my clothing and drenched me to the bone. I could hear footsteps just outside the door. It sounded like he was pacing.

I reached to my side for the bar of soap, but it slid out of my hand and landed with a thud somewhere underneath my seat. I just had to be so fucking stubborn. I just had to get angry because he didn't understand. And now I was stuck, sitting in my shower getting soaking wet. All because I was fucking stubborn.

I just wanted to be clean. Just for one fucking night I wanted to be clean again. I bit down hard on my lip because the next things that had to be done were going to be harder than anything I had ever done. I was going to have to admit that I needed help. "Embry," I called. "I need your help. Please." The latch clicked as he closed the door and came to stand beside me.

"I'll just uh, help you with your shirt," he said, curling his fingers around the fabric and lifting it over my head. I couldn't stop my hands from reaching up to cover myself but Embry was staring at the wall above me. He lifted me with one hand and took my shorts off the the other. "I'm going to have to look at you to help you," he whispered. "I'm not going to hurt you, Penn."

"I know," I whispered. I watched his eyes dart over the scars on my chest and legs and hips and arms, scars that he had never seen before. An entire novel, a lifetime written in blood. But he didn't say anything; in fact he didn't even stare. He stood behind me, taking place of the wall while he worked on my hair. "Embry," I began, feeling his fingers work their way to my scalp again. I shivered from it.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to fall asleep." It wasn't what I meant to say. I meant to tell him that we needed to talk. I needed to tell him about the past. His chuckle sounded from deep in his belly, near where my head was lying.

"I'm not going anywhere, love." If he kept saying those things, I was going to start believing him.


	30. Chapter XXIX

**Author's Note: I know that it's late, but I wanted to get this all right. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter XXIX**

I woke up to see the sun shining through the windows, but Embry wasn't lying in bed next to me. I frowned at that and tried to roll myself over, but the burning only came back full force. "She lives," a masculine voice said. I tried again to move myself from the position that I was lying in, but it hurt too much. "I don't think we'll be letting you shower for a few days," he continued. "I thought you might have died. You slept for a full day." That would explain why I felt so well rested.

"That would make this..." I trailed off.

"Day five," he supplied. "Carlisle came and checked on you yesterday. He'll be back in the next couple of days so that he can talk to you when you're awake." I nodded. I felt the shifting of my mattress as he settled next to me and his obsidian eyes met mine. "Good morning." His smile might have been brighter than the sun as he looked down at me. "I've got some tea for you. Want to sit up?"  
"Coffee?" I begged hopefully.

"When you can run a mile, I will get you a coffee. Now come on," he said. His hands slid before my back and underneath my thighs to lift me. It felt like routine now. The major difference was that it didn't hurt as badly this time to have him sit me up. I didn't think that I could manage it on my own, but the pain was only in the major wounds, like the deep stab in my chest. "My mom will be here later today."

He reached behind him and grabbed my mug, holding it out to me before sitting upright in front of me, his elbows resting on his knees. He stayed close this whole time, taking care of me and treating me with such kindness, I didn't know always know how to react. But I knew that I had to tell him. Finding out from my dreams or things that were said about me would ruin everything that I had with him. It had only been a few short months, but I desperately wanted Embry Call to be a part of my life. So I rested my mug in my lap and looked at him. "Can we talk about something?" I asked him.

"Yeah, sure. What's wrong?" I sighed shakily. I wanted to keep him. Forever. "Penn?"

"I know that you saw them, Embry. The scars." He nodded. "I'm sure that you have some questions about them and -"

"Penn, you don't have to. I don't need to know," he interrupted.

"But you do. You keep saying that you want to stay and want to be friends and all those things. The problem is that I'm starting to believe you, Embry."

"I _want_ you to believe me, Penn," he insisted. "I'm not going anywhere."

"But you can't honestly make that decision until you know everything about me. There are things that I kept hidden. If I could just pretend that they didn't happen, then no one else ever had to know that they happened. I've never actually told anyone about it; not Charlie, not her dad, not even the court ordered therapist. But I've never had anyone that I've wanted to keep around like I want you." A grin split his face. "So I think it's only fair that you know what you're getting into."

"It doesn't matter, Penn. I promise you that it's not going to change anything," he insisted.

"Please, just let me tell you," I begged. He nodded and took the cup from my hands and rested it on my nightstand. I bit my lip again and again, munching on my cheek with a deep breath. "My mom left when I was seven and things got worse after that. But before that... It wasn't exactly easy before then either. My dad wasn't the easiest person to live with. He had a habit of beating on my mother and me, but more her than me."

In front of me I could see the little girl cowering underneath the table, hoping that he would just go away before she became the object of his abuse. "It was never anything more than just hitting me... Until she left." I could see Embry's eyes darkening but I wouldn't allow myself to keep looking at him. If I did, I would regret starting to tell him. "The morning after she left he - he came into my room and told me that I was the reason she was gone. She didn't love me because... because I was a bad girl." I still wouldn't look at him even when I saw his eyes narrow. "That was the first time that he..., that it happened." He sucked in a deep breath.

"I guess it's not surprising that a man who could do that to his daughter would turn to alcohol for all his problems. And that's exactly what Sid did." I wasn't there anymore, though. I was watching the devil of a man walk away from me after that first night, ignore me while I was trying to do homework, drink all our money away, quit his job. "He lost his job because he was drunk all the time. And every night he came into my room. It always hurt, you know?" I wasn't waiting for the answer with that question. There were a select number of people that knew the answer to that question.

"But when he lost his job, we started running out of money. My mom hadn't died as far as we knew so we couldn't collect life insurance. We had nothing left when the bank came for the house. They put the notice up and he figured out a plan. He wouldn't lose the house. That's all he kept saying: he wouldn't lose the house. And I felt bad for him back then, before it all happened. He missed my mom so much. That's why he didn't want to lose the house. It was the last little piece of her that we had left. I just didn't know what his plan was."

I could see the blond haired man walking into my room, his belly sticking out over his belt, slinging low over his hips. And then he'd dropped his pants and - - "He sold me." I looked up in Embry's eyes, watching them turn even darker. He began to shake, his hands trembling despite their tight hold on my blankets. "Men could pay for an hour with me, a night, five nights, a hand job, a blow job. You name it, and I've probably had to do it." His trembling increased tenfold. I shifted uncomfortably. My breath shook as I took another gulp of air. "After the guys left at the end of the night, he would come in with the knife or the poker or whatever he had handy. I was to be punished for my inability to perform like I should. Someone would complain that I had cried or that I told them to stop. Men didn't pay for that. They paid to have a little girl sit down and suck it up."

My whole bed began vibrating with the force of his anger. And if I had been seeing what was in front of me and not the flashbacks of all those men, I would have told Embry to calm down. "It went on like that for years. Finally, someone noticed that my father had a strange number of men coming in and out of his house at all hours of the day. They called the cops. One night, a man paid for the five night package. But he never touched me. He talked to me, asked me about my day, asked me what men normally did to me. I was thirteen; I knew something was up.

"At the end of his five days, the police came. They took me away from my father and I've never turned back. Of course, by the time I was done with abusive foster parents and court-ordered therapy, the damage was done. I knew the truth about people. They're only here for one thing: to use you and leave you. I didn't see my dad again until the emancipation hearing. Other people were only ever going to hurt me. Charlie's parents didn't want me and Charlie couldn't take me on her own. There was nothing left to do but to be on my own. And I had learned enough about people to know that I never wanted to rely on anyone again."

This was going to be the hard part. It was just as difficult as admitting that I'd needed his help the other day. "Until you," I whispered. His eyes shot to my face and I focused on him instead of the memories that threatened to take me. "I can't figure out what you want from me, Embry. If it's not sex then I don't know what to do to it. I've pushed people away for so fucking long, I don't know what to do when someone like you comes around. You keep coming back and telling me that I can trust you, that you'll be here for me. And I'm starting to believe you. But I want you to know these things. I'm scarred, little more than a shell of a person. You can't be expected to stick around after all of that. I don't trust people; I don't trust anyone. But I want to trust you, Embry."

He remained completely and utterly silent, the only thing that happened was more quivering and shaking. "Are you going to say anything?" I begged him, my voice breaking.

But all he did was stand up and run.

I had been expecting that this whole time... So why did it hurt so much?


	31. Chapter XXX

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews yesterday. I really appreciate all of the support that I've gotten from everyone. I hope you all enjoy!**

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**Chapter XXX:****_ Embry's Point of View_**

I don't think that she realized that she was sobbing. Her voice wobbled and cracked while tears streamed in endless torrents down her cheeks. I was caught between this desire to tell her that it was all going to be okay and the need to let her finish. She'd never told anyone her story, her life. I was blessed enough to be the one person in the world that got to find out the real Penn, the real girl that was hiding behind her pain. But as she kept talking, I could feel myself losing my grip on my control. I could feel myself shaking, see her questioning my reaction. "Are you going to say anything?" she whispered in a tortured voice.

The part of my brain that was more man than wolf was screaming at me, telling me that I needed to stay with her and let her know that I wasn't going to let this change anything between us. I had expected to hear that she'd been raped. Even the fact that her father beat her wasn't a surprise. But to find out that she was raped, brutally raped for seven years of her life... I tried to keep my composure, to tell myself that she needed me. But in my mind, I could feel her panic like I had felt her pain the night of the attack. I could feel pain in my hips but I didn't want to exam the reasons for that. I couldn't.

And I couldn't be there for her.

I jumped up and ran out the house, phasing before I was even out the door. How had she been through so much? How had she managed to come through all of this? And the biggest question of all: how was I supposed to help her? I had always thought that being the bastard child of La Push was the worst thing that could happen. People talked about me, about my mother, about the people that chose to be around me. But she was right. Not knowing your father was a million times better than knowing the man who sold your body. _You better get your ass back in there_, Jake snarled inside my head.

_You don't know, Jake. _I banished all thoughts of Penn and her story from my head, trying to focus instead on the forest around me. I looked at the trees, making mental notes about all the knots and holes.

_I don't need to know Embry. I'm not planning on digging around in your head and finding out. Whatever information she gave you was not for the rest of us to know. But I know imprints. I know how to fuck them up and make them work again. You have to go back there, Em. Now._

_I can't. I was going to lose it even before I walked out._

_You ran._

_Whatever. I was going to lose it. I couldn't do that to her._

_Whatever she said to you,_ he began, _is it really important?_

_Yes._

_Then you need to get your ass back there. Because if you stay out here any longer, you're only causing more damage. If it's something that she told you because she trusts you, the longer you're gone, the more you're betraying that trust. You've got to put her first man. That's our jobs as imprints. We're supposed to be there for them and make sure that they know we love them. Even if you can't _**_tell_**_ her that you love her, you can show her. Suck it up, grow a pair of balls, and go back in there. _

He was right, of course. Jake had fucked up his imprint more times than he could count. _Hey!_ he screamed in my head. I ignored him, rounding a tree and turning back towards my imprint's home. I told her that I would be there for her, that I wasn't going to allow her information to change things between us. And she had no way of knowing why I had run from her. She probably assumed that I was running_ from_ her. She had no idea of knowing that I was only trying to keep her safe.

_Thanks Jake,_ I said as I phased and pulled shorts on.

I could hear her heartbeat thudding and smell the honeysuckle around me. But as I shoved the door open, I was met with the distinct smell of salty tears. She'd been crying? More than she had before? I had caused her that? I had caused her that pain. "Please!" she screamed. Panic drew me towards the bedroom, my feet tripping on the rug in her living room. But my urgency kept me from falling to the ground. Someone was here to hurt her? Hurt my _imprint_? "Please, just let me explain." Her heart was racing in her chest. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if it was hitting her ribs. "I'm sorry! Please - - please, just let me explain."

I crossed the threshold to find her thrashing in bed, not another soul in the room. The logical side of my brain told me that I would have smelled them if they were in her bedroom. "Embry, please," she sobbed, the words breaking in her chest. Me? No; that couldn't be it. She couldn't really be thinking that I hated _her_ for the things that had happened to her. "Please, please, just let me explain."

"Sh, babe, sh," I whispered, pulling my shirt over my head.

"Just give me a chance," she begged.

"It's okay, Penn." I lifted the comforter and wriggled underneath, wishing that I could just leave them off. It was going to be so hot tonight. But Jake was right; I had to put her before myself. "Sh, love," I continued after she started whimpering.

"I didn't want to, Embry. Please; I didn't want to," she kept saying. "It wasn't my choice. You - - understand, please."

"I understand, Penn. Come here," I implored even though she was asleep. I made my way to her, gently laying my arm over her and beginning to draw her closer.

"No! Please, don't! Please!" she screamed bloody murder.

"Sh, Penn; it's just me. It's Embry. It's just Embry," I hushed her. I did the only thing that I knew how to do with her. I began petting her hair, gently treading the strands through my fingers. "It's okay, love."

"Embry hates me," she whispered.

"I don't hate you."

"He hates me. He ran."

"He didn't mean to," I promised her. "He was just mad."

"At me," she sobbed, her hands fisting in the fabric of my shirt. I don't even think she realized that she was wincing and hissing in pain as the bruises on her fingers burned with her motions.

"No, sweetheart. He was mad at your father." Her shaking calmed somewhat. I realized with a pang in my heart that she wasn't going to remember any of this in the morning. But at least I could say that I had made amends for the shit that I had pulled. Even if I was going to have to do it all over again. "He - I - was mad at the men that did those horrible things to you. Not you, sweetheart."

"He's not coming back," she said after a long silence, burrowing her face into my chest. I pulled her even closer, my heart breaking as I thought of her pain, both the past and what I was causing to her today.

"Yes, I am. I'm here, Penn. I'm not going anywhere." I pressed a kiss to her forehead and then heard what could be classified as the most amazing sound that I had ever heard.

She sighed in contentment, her hands releasing their tight hold on me. Her right hand felt to her mattress, sandwhiched between our chests while her left came to rest on my ribs. "Embry," she muttered, having finally come out of her daze and realized that I was back for her. "I - - sorry."

"Okay, love," I said instead. I held her tight and listened to her heartbeat slow and her breathing even out. Only then did I push her away a bit so that I could dry her wet tears from her face. The man had been smart enough not to hit her face, leaving it completely unmarred. In her sleep, she looked like she was actually happy that she was right here in my arms. "I'm going to fix this, Penn. I promise. I shouldn't have run away from you. I'm so sorry," I told her. She grumbled in her sleep and tried to push herself closer to me. She was lying so closer to me that I could fold my forearm along her back, caging her with my bicep and my chest.

I had to fix this. I had to make sure that she knew it wasn't her that I ran from. She whimpered a little in her sleep and wiggled, my hold on her too tight. "Sorry," I muttered, loosening my hold on her. "I'm so sorry, Penn. But I love you and I'm going to make this right for you." I was going to fix this.


	32. Chapter XXXI

**Author's Note: Okay, I know that there was no chapter yesterday and I know that it was incredibly cruel of me to leave you guys hanging for a full day. But I just needed a day to sit and write without the worry about getting my chapter proofread and perfected for you all. Hopefully, now that I've got a few written and some more story-boarded, I can be more regular in my updates. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter XXXI**

I was almost afraid to open my eyes, afraid of what I would see there. Or I guess, what I wouldn't see. But contentment lay over my like a quilt, keeping me warm in a way that I hadn't thought possible. What blanket had I managed to find for myself last night? I pried my eyes open to see a shirted chest that I recognized all too well. He'd come home? I mean - - _back. _He'd come _back. _Home; to me. But it didn't make any sense. What kind of man would want to continue to be friends with someone like me? Who would willingly put themselves through that? It didn't make any sense.

I forced myself to sit ramrod straight and avoid the desire to curl up in his protective embrace. But even that will power couldn't make me push him away. It was just too comfortable, too safe, too warm. He was just trying to be a good guy, trying to do what he'd promised me that he would. He was going to ruin himself if I didn't get him out of here, get him away from _me._ I sighed but inhale hurt my ribs and caused me to cry out. Why couldn't I just be healed again? Embry jolted awake beside me, his hand stroking over my hair. "You're okay, love," he whispered, his lips finding their way to my temple. I narrowed my eyes and blinked hard to avoid getting comfortable in his arms. "Good morning," he said, pulling back to look at me with a slight smile on his lips.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him, although my voice was breathless and breaking. I realized then just how much it did to me to have him lying in bed with his arms around me. I liked having him back in bed with me. Him leaving had torn the heart that no longer beat out of my chest. I felt my lower lip begin to tremble as I tried to pull away from him. It was like pulling away from the iron bars of a cage. "Why are you still here, Embry?" I whispered one tear rolling down over my nose to drip down to the blanket.

"No, no," he replied, his fingertip grabbing the next tear before it could make its dive. "No more of that. I never need to see that again." What the fuck was he talking about? I waited ten minutes after he left to allow myself to cry and break down. "Penn, I have so much that I need to apologize for."

"You're not... You don't want to leave?" I asked then. I had been begging for him to just give me one more chance. I just needed a moment to explain to him what had happened, how I was forced to do it. I watched him shake his head with that same smile on his face. I gripped his shirtfront with my good hand then. I couldn't let him leave until I made certain that he understood that I didn't want this for my life. "Please, Em, just let me explain."

"There's nothing to explain, love," he replied, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

"I didn't want this, Embry. I didn't make that clear. I didn't -"

He laid his whole hand over my mouth, silencing any sounds that I could make. "Let _me_ explain first, okay? And then if you still feel like you need to tell me, you can." I nodded and stared up at him. "There's something that I haven't told you myself, Penn. And I really want to, but now is not the right time. I promise that I will tell you soon, though," he began. I tried to stuff down the pain that I felt when he said that there was something he was hiding from me and listen to his story. Easier said than done. "I have a terrible temper. Most of the time, I'm good at keeping it in check. But last night," he shuddered and drew me closer like he was trying to make all my pain, past and present, disappear. "Last night I just couldn't do it. You were telling me about your father and those men and I just want to find them all and kill them Penn. That's why I left." He felt... he felt _anything_ for me? How was that possible? There was nothing left in me to feel with? Right?

"I didn't want to scare you, Penn. I didn't want to explode on you after everything that you've been through," he said. There was a smile on his face. His hand began it's gentle petting of my hair again. I didn't know that anything could be so comforting. "I could never _ever_ be mad at you, Penn. Do you hear me? There is nothing that you could ever do that would make me mad at you."

"That's not a promise that you can keep," I whispered. I knew that I promised him that I wouldn't interrupt. But I had dealt with people, especially men, all my life. I knew that everyone had a breaking point, a place where their promises ceased to matter. Embry would have one too. And I was always the person that was best at finding those.

"But I can," he insisted. "I might get irritated with you. I might even shout once in a while, but I'm not going to leave you. Never again. There is nothing you can do that could make me mad at you. And you can never get me to leave again." I stared up at his eyes, trying to see if he was as genuine as he sounded. "But you interrupted me." He reached up and tweaked my nose a little. "I wasn't angry at you, Penn. I was angry at your father. He was supposed to be there to love you and protect you. Instead, he sold you out for torture every night for seven years. I was angry at those men. Men who had mothers and sisters and aunts and cousins. How could they do those things to you?"

"I was a bad girl. I was always testing my father, seeing how far I could test the boundaries, trying -"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," he muttered. "You listen to me, Penn. None of what happened to you was your fault. You did absolutely _nothing_ wrong. You were a child, love." His hand came to the back of my head, his fingers gently digging their way through my hair to my scalp. He tilted my head up so that I was forced to look at him no matter what I did. "You were just a little girl, Penn. Someone should have been their to protect you back then." I swallowed hard. "I wasn't there back then, but I'm here now. I won't let anything get to you again. Not your father, not those men, not Ken. No one," he promised.

I laid there silently for a few moments, listening to his heartbeat and breathing between us. "I'm sure that you want to go take a shower," he said suddenly. "You were a little bit upset when I came home last night." Home? He called this place home. And I liked it... a lot.

"I didn't know that you came home last night," I replied quietly.

"Almost right after I left," he said. " I felt so bad for leaving you. I should have stayed here. I shouldn't have left right then. I should have at least explained to you."

"I understand," I whispered. I really did. I had a temper that would rival a hot tamale. "I have a bad temper."

"It doesn't change the fact that I should have stayed with you," he replied. "You were screaming at me last night. You kept saying that you wanted to explain something." I bit my lip. Leave it to me to talk in my sleep again. I did most nights; I'd never had to worry about it when I was living by myself.

"I didn't want you to think that I just laid down and took everything that he gave me. I wasn't just punished for the things that I did wrong with the men that came at night," I explained. He began shaking again. I could see his temper flaring in his eyes. "I don't have to tell you," I said, looking down at his chest, afraid that he would leave again.

"No, please," he said. "I'll be okay." I bit my lip and looked back up to his face. "I promise."

"The bedroom was only for the clients. He said that I would get it dirty if I was to stay in their by myself. So I slept on the floor. But the clients didn't want to have a bad hostess, either. So I learned how to clean and cook. And if I tried to argue about any of my chores or doing my job that night, he would take things from me. Sometimes I didn't get dinner. But usually he just kept cutting me," I explained. His shaking was still there, but it had calmed somewhat. "I just - - I didn't want you to think that I didn't try to fight. I did. I did everything that I could to make him stop, Embry."

He tipped my head up farther and pressed a kiss to my nose and then the corner of my mouth, just a few scant centimeters away from my lips. "I wouldn't expect anything less," he whispered. I wanted to pull away or at the very least tell him that I was afraid. But he just kept his forehead against mine and resumed the motion over my hair. "I want to kiss you, Penn," he whispered. I froze, my heart stopping in my chest.

"Then...then why don't you?" I asked. It wouldn't be the first time that I'd been kissed. The first time since I'd been owned by my father, sure. But I knew what I was doing.

Embry's smile was tenderness itself as he looked at me. "Because I want you to want to kiss me, Penn," he whispered. "And until that day, I'll just keep waiting for you."

"That day won't come, Embry," I promised him. "I don't have that left in me." His eyes studied me with a look that I had never seen before.

Finally, he slid his hands underneath my body and lifted me high against his chest. "Let's go get you cleaned up," he said.

I was in pain, whatever medication Carlisle had given me finally wearing off. But I found myself smiling, even as he pulled my shirt over my head and sat me in the shower. He actually wanted to stay. He wanted to kiss me. He wanted to _wait_ for me. So yeah; I was smiling. Because I got to keep Embry Call.


	33. Chapter XXXII

**Author's Note: I don't have much to say except enjoy. And please let me know what you think because I'm kind of nervous. **

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**Chapter XXXII**

"Hey Penn," Embry called three days later from my kitchen. He had started bringing me out to the living room while he worked on whatever it was that he was doing. I was pretty sure he was working on my garbage disposal, which hadn't been happy in ages. "I was thinking that we could go out for a walk today." It had been more than a week since the initial attack. I still had trouble sitting myself up, but I could get it done in a pinch. Walking, on the other hand, was beyond difficult. I couldn't manage to stand for more than a moment or two and I couldn't hold myself erect in a chair at all. So I was a little confused where he thought that a walk was going to be a good idea.

"I can't exactly walk," I whispered. It never ceased to amaze me that he would hear me even when I was muttering to myself.

He came out of the kitchen with his dishcloth tossed over his shoulder and a chuckle rumbling in his throat. "I know that, love. But you've been stuck on the couch or the bed for so long. I thought maybe you'd like to go out for your morning walk." He was right, of course. I was getting tired of just lying about all day. I wanted a change of scenery. "I'll carry you out to the beach. And then you can sit there for a little while." I didn't know about me contentedly sitting anywhere but it would be nice. So I nodded.

Being picked up and carted around wasn't nearly as embarrassing as it had been the first few times. And it wasn't nearly as painful as it had been the first few times either. Embry had figured out how to pause, how to pull me up with the least amount of pain. I'm pretty sure he shouldn't be getting as good at it as he was. He pulled me tight against his chest and balanced me with one hand for a short time before a blanket was tucked around my body. He readjusted his hold on me so that his arms weren't covered by the blanket. And then he began marching through my new front door. Embry had changed it at so that I had a new lock and I could feel safer.

The cold wind hit me like a brick wall. I wrapped one arm around his neck and rested my hand on his shoulder. I tried to curl myself up tighter in his embrace and erase the chill. He puled my blanket up tighter to my shoulders and wrapped his arms around me a little more securely. "Just wait until we get closer to the beach. The wind will be stronger but I can find you somewhere to stay warmer."  
"I just have to adjust," I replied, turning my face into his chest and taking a deep breath there. "It'll be fine by the time we get to the beach," I promised. "What have you been working on in the kitchen?"

"Curiosity finally got the best of you, huh?" he laughed. "I was fixing your disposal and then I saw something on the counter and I'm working on it so that you don't get any cracks or anything."

"In the tile?" He nodded. We were only a hundred feet from the beach then. "I'm sorry that I'm so helpless," I whispered. "I must weigh a ton."

"You weigh less than a feather," he laughed. "But there's something that I actually wanted to talk to you about, Penn." Well that was always a bad start to a conversation. I was cowering into his chest. "It's nothing bad, I promise." He jumped up the natural steps to the top of the rock that we always sat down on almost every time. "I have to start getting back to work soon, Penn."

"Work? Like with your mother?"

"No; she's given me as much time off as I need," he explained. "But I work for Jake Black too."

"You work with Paul?"

"Yeah and Paul's been taking care of my shifts since you got attacked. But I need to get back to it soon."

"I understand. I'm used to being on my own. It's fine," I whispered. My heart began tugging, pain radiating through my core at the thought of losing him already.

He scoffed at me with disbelief. "Penn, I'm not going anywhere. And I'll still be here every day." I started and looking up at him. "I was just trying to ask you if you'd rather have me leave in the morning or at night?" I couldn't even answer him. The idea of him leaving me alone and vulnerable at night made me want to cry. But the thought of him leaving me during the day, when no one would think that an attack would happen, was just as terrifying. "I'll be in the forests and I can come by the house every ten minutes or so and make sure that everything's safe here."

"I don't - - I don't think that - - I can't sleep if you're not here," I admitted. He beamed down at me, like happiness incarnate. "But I don't know what I'd do if you were gone all day." He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my forehead, tucking the blanket around my chin to block the wind chill. "I can't make this decision for you."

"First of all, it will only be an hour or two that I have to be gone. There are more than enough of us to take shifts. I shouldn't have to be gone very long. Maybe I could go in the morning, before you get up all the way. I'll wake up in the morning, make sure that you are awake, and then I can go." It didn't change the fact that he would still be able to hurt me when Embry left. "You'll be asleep while I'm gone and I'll still be around your place so you probably won't even notice that I'm gone."

I would definitely notice that he was gone, but it wouldn't be as bad if I was able to sleep through it all. "I guess that would be okay," I whispered.

"I'll be back before you know it. And you'll be safe the entire time, I promise." I nodded again, wondering how he planned to keep me safe while he wasn't there. "Would you be okay with having one of the other guys stay with you while I'm gone? Would that make you feel better?" "I don't know your friends, Embry," I whispered. People that didn't know each other wouldn't have a reason to care about each other. "Why would they want to take care of me while you're gone?"

"Remember when I said that I wanted to kiss you?" I nodded; it had been the only thing that I could think about since he'd said it. My brain was trying desperately to beat out my body. My eyes kept finding his lips and I could feel myself leaning towards him in a desperate kiss. But my brain kept telling me that I was only going to let him do what so many other men had done before. "I care about you, Penn. I care about you a lot. And my friends know just how important you are which means that they'll do anything they can to keep you safe. You're important to them now too."

"But they're not my friends," I whispered. And they definitely weren't whatever Embry had become to me.

"They could be. If you would let them, they could be your friends," he whispered. "You just have to start to let them in. Like you did with me."

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The next morning, I was wishing I'd never agreed to him working. He'd gently woken me up and pressed a sweet kiss to my forehead and another to my cheek. "Come on, love. I have to get going. Jared is going to come and sit with you for a little while." I opened my eyes after a few more minutes and stared at Embry's nose. "I'll be back in a little bit," he promised. I nodded, still half asleep and not really thinking through my motions. "Jared will stay in the living room and watch television. Just call him if you need him for anything."

I nodded again and reached forward to test his hair with the tips of my fingers. I brought his face closer to me,. My lips found what I had been expecting to be his cheek. Instead, I came in contact with the little hollow where his lips met and formed a secretive smile. He sucked in a tight breath and stared at me. More than a little confused by the actual emotions that were swirling in me, I pulled back only far enough to look in his eyes and see the smile and shock glimmering there. Underneath all of that was hope. He was hoping that I wanted this.

And I did.

So I tightened my grip on his neck and pulled him in closer. I had never been the one to initiate a kiss. I didn't even know how. So I stopped with my lips a few centimeters away from his and waited. He didn't do anything, just sat there and let his breath fan over my mouth. "Please," I whispered almost silently. He leaned down and closed the distance and did the thing that had been done to me in nearly five years. He kissed me, his mouth moving in steady motions against mine.

"Kiss me back, Penn. I won't do anything to you," he muttered.

And I knew in that moment that this was unlike any kiss that I had ever had before.


	34. Chapter XXXIII

**Author's Note: I'm glad to see that everyone was happy with last night's chapter. Here's tonight's. I hope you all enjoy it. By the way, if anyone would like to see a Seth imprint story or a Jared/Kim story, please review or PM and let me know!**

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**Chapter XXXIII:****_ Embry's Point of View_**

I had promised her that I would wake her up before I left for patrol. She was the most independent person that I knew and while I loved knowing that she relied on me, I couldn't bring myself to take that freedom from her completely. She would have to make that choice and I would have to be a part of the Pack again soon enough. She wouldn't be in recovery forever. But damn if it wasn't almost impossible to imagine waking her up. She looked so perfectly happy and peaceful. I didn't want to make her wake up.

But I couldn't leave without her knowing that I was going and that she was going to be with Jared for the morning. "Penn," I whispered, drawing my hands from the swell of her shoulder down her arm. "I'm leaving." She didn't stir. I kissed her forehead but still got no response. I wanted to kiss her lips and make sure that she was completely awake but I'd have to settle for her cheek. "Come on, love. I have to get going." The last thing I needed was to be late on my first day back on patrol. I would never hear the end of it. "Jared is going to come and sit with you for a little while."

Her beautiful honey amber eyes opened to look at my face. "I'll be back in a little bit." Her eyes were glazed over, sleep bundled in the corners of her eyes. But she nodded. "Jared will stay in the living room and watch television," I said, trying to remind her that it was _Jared_ who would be here with her. I was pretty sure that she'd met him before. I'd been hoping for Paul, but he'd been a little preoccupied this morning. "Just call him if you need him for anything." Again, I was met with a small jerk of her head.

Her hand came out and wrapped around my neck, settling on the nape and toying with my short hair there. I started a little, surprised that she was being so beyond bold. She pulled at my neck until I got the message and leaned towards her. She came closer to me and pressed a kiss to the very corner of my mouth. I pulled back to stare at her, unsure if she meant to do it or if her exhausted stupor had caused her to make a mistake. She was staring at me with a critical eye, like she was trying to figure something out. And then her little fingers tugged at the strands of my hair and yanked me closer to her.

I was more than a little shocked, but even more so when she stopped like she was unsure. I could feel the desire pulsing within me. I wanted to kiss her more than I wanted anything in this world. But I had to wait for her. She was barely a finger's width away from me, but I couldn't let myself move. If I did, I would lose my hold on my carefully crafted control. "Please," she murmured. She didn't know how to continue. That's all it was.

I covered her mouth with mine and kept my mouth steady against mine. She, however, was just there. Her mouth didn't move even though her breath was coming in ragged gasps through her nose and her heart was hammering in her chest. I broke the kiss far enough that I wasn't actually kissing her, but not so far that I couldn't feel her lips. "Kiss me back, Penn," I implored. "I won't do anything to you."

Gently, I kissed her again, lining her back with my forearm and drawing her closer. Tentatively, she began moving her mouth against mine. I thought I was melting from the inside out. The heat that burned my organs before I phased was nothing compared to the flames that threatened to consume me in her kiss. I caught her bottom lip between my own and sucked. She gasped a little, startled by the action. But in the next moment, I felt her experiment with the motion herself. She was clumsy and scared and the most amazing nectar that I had ever tasted. I wished that she was healed, that I could roll her down beneath me and show her what a real kiss could feel like.

Her tongue tripped out of her mouth and touched the edge of my lip. I couldn't; it was too soon for that. I would only end up scaring her if I let my desire get the best of me. I couldn't do it to her. I needed this to be about her. She was trusting me with things that she had never trusted anyone with before. I slowly began breaking from the kiss, calming the both of us down before I let her go. "I can ask Jared to take my shift," I breathed.

She laughed, the breathy sound sending a puff of air across my face. "You said yourself that you need to get back to work," she replied. "Get going; I'll be fine with... uh ... Jared." I wanted so badly to kiss her again, to say goodbye. This was a woman that no one would believe existed. After all she had been through, after all the terrible things that she said about herself, she still wanted to give to other people. Me included.

I looked down to tell her that I could go to work again tomorrow, that no one would mind if I wanted one _last_ day off. Hell, I needed it after that kiss. But my little fighter had fallen asleep again, her head pillowed on my bicep and her hand still lying on the back of my neck. God I didn't want to leave her.

Regardless, I lifted her hand from my neck and placed it the pillow beside her head. Then I cupped her head in my hand and lifted it so that I could slide my arm out from underneath her. She grumbled and pouted, mumbling something about letting her sleep. I kissed her forehead, unsure about kissing her lips while she was asleep. "I'll see you in a little bit, love."

Jared was in the living room, making himself comfortable on the couch with Penn's t.v. remote in hand. "Could you inform your girl that it _is_ okay to own a t.v. from this decade?" he asked. I laughed at him; if he only knew what she'd saved up just to own her own television. "I don't have to worry about parents coming home, do I?" The question froze me in my spot. Had it been so long since I'd talked to my brothers that they didn't know anything? I was never intending to tell anyone about Penn's life; that was her story to tell and mine to keep secret. But I didn't see betrayal in telling them that she was an emancipated minor. Maybe I could just ask her first...

"No, her parents won't be around," I finally said. I couldn't risk even the slightest wrong on my part. She needed to know that I would keep her secrets no matter what. "She's asleep right now. If she wakes up before I'm back, just make sure she gets some chicken broth or tea in her. She might give you a hard time," I warned him.

"She's seventeen, Embry. Not seven," he laughed.

"If it was your imprint," I trailed off.

"Okay, okay, point taken. Get on patrol before Jake yells at you," he warned. I nodded, looking back at Penn's bedroom door. "She'll be fine, Em. If anything isn't right, I'll come and get you immediately, okay?"

_Good to see you out of the house,_ Quil greeted when I had phased and started my rounds. _How's your girl?_

_She's doing better than she was. Learning to trust, healing well, _I said. Quil and Jake were my best friends. Not telling them was going to be the hardest thing I'd ever done. But I was going to. _She seems like she's willing to meet everyone. At least, the guys. _She hadn't seemed at all scared about Jared being the one alone in the house with her. _How's like with you guys?_

I realized then just how long it's been since I got to talk to my friends. Over the phone and the occasional visit, sure. But catching up with Quil, hearing all of his Claire stories and all the drama that was going on with the Pack made me realize that I missed the guys. Hell, I even missed Leah. _Em!_ Seth shouted in my head. Quil and I had been running around for a few hours, talking, patrolling, catching up. He filled me in on everything that was going on. Seth's voice in my mind, though, was a welcome addition. It meant that I was done with my shift and I could return to my imprint. Maybe even get another kiss from her. _Jared says that Penn's screaming._

I pushed myself harder than I ever had before. How was I going to leave her every day? She had constant nightmares while I was gone. I had to stop them every time. Was I just supposed to stop my patrol and come home to her?

Yes; because that's what any of the guys would do and they would all understand. Hopping on one leg, I opened the door to the house while pulling on shorts. "She okay?" I called.

"She started shouting like five minutes ago. I tried to touch her but she screamed bloody fucking murder," he said. "I'm trying to help her but she won't let me." Let him? What the fuck was he talking about?

I ran to her door but it was shut and locked. Locked? "Penn," I called. "Penn it's me, Embry. Open the door, love. No one's going to hurt you." I could hear her heart pounding and her quiet sobs in her room. "Come on, love. It's just me."

"I can't," she moaned.

"Sweetheart, I promise it's just me. Jared won't come in there."

"I can't Embry. I - I - I fell." She wasn't supposed to be out of bed yet. I felt like smacking myself in the face. Of course she'd fallen. She was barely able to sit up, let alone March to the door and lock it. I could only imagine the fear she'd felt when Jared walked in.

"I'm going to snap the lock, okay love?" No response. "Penn, I'm opening your door." I snapped the lock, absently thinking about a stronger lock for the door. She was lying on the carpet, her hands up over her head like she was afraid someone was going to strike her. "Oh, Penn," I muttered. Her arms flopped down at the sound of my voice and she looked up at me, her legs still a tangled mess. "Come here." It was a stupid phrase seeing as she couldn't move but I said it anyways, stepping closer to her and gathering her to my chest. Her tears stung my bare skin. "What happened?"  
"He called me honey." I didn't know what that meant, but I made a mental note to never call her that particular pet name.

"He didn't know," I promised her. "He wouldn't hurt you."

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't mean to. I'm sorry." It dawned on me then that her apologies were probably for fear that she would be punished. The thought hurt my heart a little. I laid her down on her bed gingerly. "Please, I didn't mean to embarrass you. I'm sorry, Embry. I didn't - -"

"Sh, love, it's okay. You didn't do anything wrong," I told her. I hated that she felt like she did anything wrong. She was just scared. Whatever had set her off, had set her off. End of story. "Get some rest," I said, pulling the covers up over her. "I'm going to say goodbye to Jared."

"Will you - - Are you angry?" she whispered. I leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"I'm not angry at you, love. I'll be right back." She nodded then and turned her face away from me.

We were going to have to figure this out. I was going to have to find out more about her. She needed to know the guys. And I as going to get this right if it killed me.


	35. Chapter XXXIV

**Author's Note: I know that it's a little late! Sorry, but here it is so enjoy!**

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**Chapter XXXIV**

I could hear murmuring in the other room and cowered in my bed. I felt like I was losing every part of me. I wasn't afraid of anyone. But I was. I wanted Embry to _want_ to be around me. I wanted him to kiss me every morning before he left for work. I wanted him to call this place him home. I hadn't let a man around me in so long. All of those things that I'd grown used to were coming back to me in a flash. My father had told me that I was a reflection of him, everything that I did came back on him. He was the man in my life. But now it was Embry. Embry was the person I reflected on. It was his friend that I had screamed at, his friend that he had to explain things too now.

The door creaked as it opened, hanging at an awkward angle. "You should be sleeping, love," he whispered. How could he continue to talk to me like that? How, after everything that had happened, could he act like I was the one that he wanted?

"Embry," I knew what he must be thinking of me. I was nothing more than a crazy person who couldn't even let a friend watch over her for a few hours. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to react like that. I didn't mean to freak out on him. My father used to call me honey when he was angry. Like if I did something wrong in front of client, he would tell to apologize. 'Apologize, honey. You wouldn't want him to get upset with you honey.'" He got on what I now recognized as his side of the bed and scooted closer to me. I felt exhausted, like was going to fall asleep at any moment. "I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"You didn't, Penn," he replied. His hand dug through my hair to the nape of my neck. "You didn't do anything wrong. There's so much more that you have to fight than other people. There are things that are going to bring up bad memories and hurt you. And we're going to work through those thing, love."

"You still want to be around?" I dared to look up at him, to meet his eyes with mine. "Those things are going to happen, Embry. I've gone through them on my own since I was a kid. They're not just going to go away."

"I don't need them to go away, Penn."

"You don't?"  
"I don't; I just need you to trust me and be willing to tell me about your fears," he said. He released his hold on my neck and found my back. I loved that he was so large. I never thought that I would like to be around men at all, let alone a man that was as huge as Embry. But when he pulled me closer and laid his forearm parallel to my back, his hand playing with my hair, I felt like I was swallowed into the safest place on the planet. Like he had read my mind, he dragged me into his chest. His chin was resting on top of my hair and I was just about asleep when he spoke. "I'm not angry at you or Jared or anyone. I'm pissed off beyond all belief at your father. I don't even think you realize how mad I am at him. At all the men who did those things to you."

"Mm-kay," I murmured in response. He chuckled in turn. There was a long silence during which a million thoughts ran through my brain. But only one really took root in my mind. "Embry?"

"Go to sleep, Penn. I'm off work until tomorrow," he said. A warm ring of heat found its way to my forehead then, a promise sealed against my skin. "When you wake up we can go for a walk and you can have some food."

My thoughts were immediately derailed at the mention of food. I hadn't eaten solid food in a week. Embry had given me smoothies and popsicles and broth and tea. I was pretty sure that I was never going to eat any of those things again. I just wanted steak and potatoes and oh, good Lord I wanted bacon. "Like real food?" I asked him. I was met with another little laugh on his part.

"I'll talk to Carlisle tonight and we'll see about real food, okay?" I nodded. "My mom wants to come over tonight. You up for that?" I shrugged. "Should I tell her to wait?" I shook my head. I liked his mother. She made me laugh and smile, even when it was still kind of painful to do so. "So she's coming over tonight?" I nodded with another little shrug. If Embry didn't want her to come over, then I didn't care. But I wouldn't be upset if she wanted to come. Her arms constricted around me more. I didn't ever want to move from where I was.

"Embry?" I muttered before I could completely fall asleep. "Can I ask you something?" He hummed in response. "Why haven't you kissed me again?" He pulled back sharply and looked down at me, his hand coming to tip my chin up so that I had to look at him. I had been wondering about why he hadn't. He had said that he wanted to those days ago. And if he wasn't angry at me, there was reason why he shouldn't kiss me. Unless he didn't want to anymore. He'd already kissed me once. It wouldn't be a surprise if he didn't want me anymore. He probably realized that while I had experience with pain and the things that men wanted from me, but I had no idea how to be in a relationship.

"Do you _want _me to kiss you?" I bit my lip. I knew that I did, but admitting it was easier said than done. Or, I guess, easier to think about than to say. "I don't want to do anything that you don't want Penn."

"But - -" Why did it have to be so hard to talk to him? "But you still want to kiss me, right?"

I held my breath while he was staring at me. "Of course I want to, Penn," he breathed. "If it were up to me, I would spend the better part of the day kissing you. The rest of it would be spent talking to you and learning what goes on in that fascinating head of yours." I blushed redder than any Coke can. "But if you don't feel comfortable with it, I won't. Not until you're ready."

"And if I didn't know how to start it?" I asked of him. I didn't know how to do anything without ruining everything that we had.

"Then you just have to tell me." His breath, warm and sweet, blew over my face and warmed me from the inside out.

"And - - And if I wanted you to kiss me?" There was a long pause while he just stared at me. He searched me like he was looking for something in particular.

"Do you?" he whispered. I nodded eagerly, hoping beyond everything in me that he would. I knew what I would be getting from him this time. When he told me that I was supposed to kiss him back, I had been so confused. The men that had kissed me before didn't ask me to do anything. I tried moving my mouth in time with his and thought the entire experience rather enjoyable. Of course, that was kicked into overdrive when he tugged on my bottom lip and sucked on it. And the sound that he'd made when I'd done it in return boiled my blood and sent a knot of heat to my stomach.

His right arm, which had my head resting on it, curled and found the pack of my head. The hand that was on my back then brought itself to my waist, gently tracing circles on my skin. I begged him to deepen the kiss. I tried licking his lips like I had read about in all those books. I tried sucking his bottom lip into my mouth. But he gave no quarter. He kept his slow pace, his sweet mouth around mine. I felt like my organs were turning to goo because of this kiss. He was so warm, his arms covering me like the best blanket or jacket that could ever exist.

And then he was gone.

I came down from my daze to find Embry on the other side of the room, pacing back and forth at the foot of the bed. "What did I do?" I asked him. It had to be me. There was no way that someone as great as Embry, as kind and caring and warm and amazing, had done anything wrong. Besides, he knew what he was doing.

"You didn't do anything, love," he replied. He was by my side in an inhuman flash, his hand on my hair and his mouth against my forehead. "You didn't do it; I did."

"What did you do?" I said then.

"I... Remembered when I told you about my temper? That there were things that I wasn't telling you?" I nodded. "I can't keep kissing you until you know what that is Penn." I frowned; what could he possibly be hiding. As long as he hadn't raped anyone, I couldn't see what he had done that would make me hate him. "I - - I need to tell you the truth."


	36. Chapter XXXV

**Author's Note: Okay everyone! I hope you all enjoy. For those who are interested, be on the lookout for Jared & Kim's story ****_Chivalry is Dead_**** and Seth's imprint story ****_Falling with Style_****. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter XXXV**

"Embry, you're kind of scaring me," I said. He was so stressed; I could see it in his eyes. He was pacing back and forth, wringing his hands together and snarling under his breath to himself. "Come on, Em. You can tell me anything." After everything that I'd told him, I couldn't imagine what he could be hiding. "Please." His hand began raking through his short hair as he continued muttering. "Please," I begged him. I just wanted it to be over. I wanted him to tell me that he didn't really want to stay around me. Like ripping off a bandaid, just get it over with.

He stopped suddenly and grabbed hold of the wood at the foot of the bed, leaning over it and licking his lips. "Do you know the legends, Penn? The tribal legends about Taha Aki?" he asked me. I frowned; this wasn't what I'd been expecting. What did this have to do with him leaving me? Regardless, I nodded. Everyone had heard the legends. It was engrained in us from the time that we were young. And even someone like me, who didn't have the best childhood, had heard the legends several times. Besides the fact that Charlie loved them and we regularly snuck over to tribal bonfires so that I could translate for her. I knew them really well. "What if... What if I told you they were real?"

I stared at him, trying to decide whether he was serious or whether or not this was a joke. But the look in his eyes said that he was deadly serious. So I started laughing. It hurt so bad to laugh. My ribs started pulling, my stitches threatening to tear. "Ow," I moaned in between giggles. "Ow, Embry, you can't be serious."

"Penn, please stop laughing before you hurt yourself," he replied. He didn't even address the fact that I was laughing.

"You mean to tell me that you think our tribesmen turn into giant wolves? To protect us from vampires?" I chuckled.

"I'm not lying to you and I'm not joking, Penn," he swore. If he wasn't joking, I didn't understand why he was continuing with it. Why wouldn't he just let it go. "You have to believe me, Penn. They're real. We're real. The Spirit Warriors, the Cold Ones. All of it is real." It couldn't be real. Those men were supposed to be chosen to protect our tribe. Surely they would have found out what a monster my father was and taken me from him. There were other people like me, with similar pasts, with dangerous memories. How could Spirit Warriors allow those kinds of people to stay in their tribe?

"Show me," I demanded then.

"What?"  
"If it's so real, show me."

"What makes you think I'm one of them?" he retorted.

"You said _'we're real'_. So you must be one of them. If you want me to believe you, then you have to show me."

"I don't want to scare you, Penn. Please, just trust me," he pleaded.

"I trust you, Embry. Now you have to trust me." I stared at his face, literally begging him to trust me with whatever secret this was. It's not like it really mattered anyways; this couldn't be true. "Please, Em."

There was a silence that seemed to hang in the air. It was tense and heavy. I felt my heart hammering in my chest. The problem was that the only thing that could stop the pain in my chest was Embry. I was sure of it. "Okay," he muttered.

"What?"

"Okay, I'll show you." He stepped forward cautiously, with his hands forward like an armed perp approaching the police. I frowned at him. "I'm not going to hurt you," he swore.

"I know that Embry," I said. He slid his hands underneath my skin and hauled me to his chest. Much like he had the other day, he wrapped me in a blanket and pulled me tight against him and began walking. I knew that I should be paying attention to where we were going. If I were with anyone else, I would be worried about where I was going. If I needed to get away now, I wouldn't have a clue how to get home. But I was with Embry so I didn't have worry.

So instead of figuring out my escape routes, I tried to think about what it would mean _if_ this was real. It would mean that Embry was a wolf... And that Ember could be a person. That would make sense. Ember was larger than any wolf that I had met before. He could be a person. He could be one of the Spirit Warrior. The wolf that I trusted with all my secrets could in fact be a person. He - - he could have told people that I was messed up.

But so could Embry.

Embry could tell any one of his friends that I was an emancipated minor with a terrible past. But I couldn't imagine him doing that. He wouldn't. He was unspeakably tender and wonderfully kind all the time. I trusted him more than I trusted anyone, even Charlie. And would it really be so terrible if he was some kind of wolf that protected the tribe? So what if they weren't there to protect me back then? The legends said that it happened when the boys became men. Embry was the same age as me. He wouldn't have been able to protect me back then. "Sit here," he commanded, depositing me on a rock in the middle of the forest. "I'll be right back."

I latched onto his arm then, trying to keep him with me. "Don't leave me," I whispered. "Please, Em, don't leave me in the middle of the forest!"

"You want me to show you, Penn. I have to take all my clothes off," he said. "I'll be behind a tree, but I'll still be able to see you." I was Penn Rivers. I was tougher than nails and a bitch to boot. I didn't need a man to keep me safe.

But I needed Embry. I sighed and nodded, watching him walk away and pull his shirt over his head as he went. He couldn't be serious. This couldn't be real. If Embry really was a wolf, then that would change everything that I knew. Or I guess, that I thought I knew.

A twig snapped and drew my attention to the trees. "Ember?" I asked as he stepped forward. He trotted up to me and bumped my good shoulder with his nose. He shook his head though after touching me. "But you are Ember. You - - you - - Embry?" I managed to get out. My breath was coming in gasps. My chest rose and fell uneasily, causing my ribs to sting and pull with each pant. "You can't be!" He nodded though. "No! I told you things! I told you my secrets. You tricked me. You made me believe that you were someone you're not!" He whimpered like he had many times before. Sinking down on his belly, he crawled towards me with a smile. "How could you do that to me? You said that I could trust you! You lied to me!"

He shook his head again and whined, the sound high pitched and full of pain. "Go and change back now!" I snapped. He wheeled around and sprinted off to the forest. He came stumbling back with his shirt in his hand. "How could you lie to me?" I repeated.

"Penn, please, you have to believe me, I didn't mean to hurt you," he insisted.

"But I told you things. Or I told Ember things. I didn't want you to know those things. I thought I was telling a wolf; not you," I screamed at him. My voice was going hoarse from shouting at him so much.

"And that's how it worked, Penn," he said.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I didn't want to betray you like that. But back then, you hated Embry. I needed to be close to you and you liked Ember. You trusted Ember. But the things that you told him stayed between you and him. I kept those things separate. One day, I wanted you to tell me, not the wolf side of me. I couldn't betray you like that," he explained. Ember had stopped coming around when Embry had started taking care of me. "I'm a Spirit Warrior. And the thing that you've told all your secrets to is the other side of me. It's the wolf part of me. But I swear to you Penn, what you said stayed between you and Ember."

"You mean you and me," I corrected.

"You and that _side_ of me. I couldn't do that to you. I'm trying to make you happy. I'm trying to get you to trust me," he swore.

"I don't know if I can," I breathed. He backed away a few steps. "I'm not afraid of you or what you are, Em. But - - you lied to me. I can't ignore that. You should have told me about this."

"What do you think I'm doing Penn? I'm trying to tell you," he said, throwing his hands up in the air. "Give me a chance to prove this to you, Penn. Give me a chance to get you to trust me again. Please. Just a few days, please." I bit my lip. He hadn't done anything to make me distrust him. I mean, other than this. And even here he'd come clean about Ember. Let's forget the fact that there were wolves and supernatural shit involved here. That didn't boggle my brain nearly as much as his lying did. "I won't hurt you. I just want to build that trust up again."

"Fine," I acquiesced. "I don't know why you're so determined to keep me around, but if you don't want to go," I shrugged instead of finishing the sentence.

"I can explain to you why I want you, Penn. It's a part of this."

"A part of the wolves?" He didn't want me. Something else did. The thought hurt my heart. "The human doesn't want me, does he?"

"What are you talking about?"  
"You said it was the wolf and the man. The wolf wants me and the man doesn't, does he?" I thought I might cry. I liked Ember. But I was falling for Embry. So I guess I wanted both sides of him. Not having all of him was going to kill me. "I think I should go home."

"Penn, wait. Let me explain. I don't think you understand," he tried.

"Could you please just take me home? You can explain tomorrow, okay?" He looked like he would rather argue with me and explain it now, but he nodded and scooped me up in his arms. I kept myself rigid, not willing to relax in the arms of a _man_ who didn't want me. It was the wolf part of him that wouldn't let me go. Somehow that hit me harder than realizing that he was a wolf.

He laid me back down in bed a few minutes later, covering me with the blankets. "I'll be in the living room if you need me, okay?" I nodded instead of saying something. I couldn't trust myself to give him a response. He rubbed my hair again and bent like he was going to kiss my forehead but pulled back. There was no reason for him to continue his pretense now. I knew the truth. He didn't actually want me. I was falling with nothing to catch me.

I waited until the door clicked shut to grab his pillow and hold it tight to my chest. It still smelled like him. Unwelcome tears started to trickle down my cheeks. After all the time that I had spent with him, I still hadn't changed.

I was still nothing.


	37. Chapter XXXVI

**Author's Note: No excuses, just apologies. Super sorry that there hasn't been chapters lately. Here you all are. Happy Fourth of July! Enjoy!**

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**Chapter XXXVI:****_ Embry's Point of View_**

I wanted to push her, to make her listen to me more than anything. She needed to understand what an imprint really was. But she was hiding from me. The second that I told her that my need to be around her was related the legends, the shutters had dropped over her eyes. She had reverted to the Penn that I met weeks ago. I brought her back to the house, but she was rigid in my arms. "I'll be in the living room if you need me, okay?" I promised, leaning over her. I had hurt her. I had betrayed her despite the fact that I was never intending on it. I couldn't even kiss her forehead. I needed to gain her trust again.

It wasn't even twenty minutes later that she was sobbing in her bed. The wolf in me was whining, wanting to stop her pain. The problem was that I had caused it. And now I didn't know how to fix it. She said that she would talk to me about it in the morning. Those few hours, however, could be more than enough time for her to become the old Penn again. So I sat myself on the couch, trying to figure out how to get her back. I couldn't say how long I sat there but by the time that I was focused again, the clock was glowing green and the house was black. "No! Please." I sighed, wishing that I could have been in there with her. I had noticed when I was there in her bed, she didn't wake up screaming. She might toss and turn a little, but she never shouted.

"Sh, Penn," I whispered. I crawled onto the side of the bed that I had been sleeping on. "I'm here."

Her eyes came open almost immediately, like my quiet voice had woken her up. She stared at me with tears swimming in her eyes. "You don't want to be," she murmured. The words, soft and almost inaudible, flayed my heart. She really thought that I didn't want her. She really thought that it was the wolf that wanted her. The worst part was that I had no idea how to show her that I wanted her. Not without scaring her. "It's not going to hurt my feelings if that's what you're thinking."

"Penn, it's not about that," I insisted. But even as I said the words I knew that was the wrong statement. I did care about her feelings. It was about her feelings. But more importantly, it was about her heart. Contrary to her belief, I knew that she had one. "Yes, it is about your feelings. But it's also about you. Like _you_ you. Please, you have to let me explain things to you." There were still tears slipping down her cheeks, but she didn't say anything. "Okay, just listen for just a minute. Okay?" She didn't respond and in truth, I didn't really give her time to. I just pushed forward. "There's this thing that most of us in the Pack have done."

"How many of you are there?" she interrupted.

"I'll get to that; let me finished." I waited to see if she was going to interrupt me anymore or if she was done. After a few moments, I continued. "We imprint. We find our mates an it's the person that we're meant to be with for the rest of our lives."

"And your wolf picked me?"  
"No," I insisted. "The Spirits pick, Penn. The find the person that they will make the strongest wolves." She looked away from me but I was going to finish this explanation if it killed me. So I gripped her chin and gently brought her back to my gaze. "_And_ men. We're not two separate things, Penn. Ember is a side of me, like the side of you that remembers all the hurt your father calls. He's like my temper. So whatever the wolf wants is what I want. It's not _him_ that wants you, Penn. I do."

"You can't," she replied.

"Why? Why can't I want to be around you? Why can't I want Penn Rivers?"

"Because she's not a real person," she sobbed. She was sitting right in front of me. Of course she's a real person. I had seen her, on occasion. "You're into mechanics, right?" I nodded. "People strip cars to nothing to sell it off for parts. No body buys the stripped car and says that's the one I want. You have to understand Embry, that's what I am. I'm not the parts of the car that you want. I'm the empty, stripped down to nothing body that was left over. No body wants that."

"Unless they want to rebuild," I whispered.

"I'm not a charity case," she snapped. "And there's nothing left to build on. I am nothing."

"That's the best place to start building a foundation," I countered.

"You can't build on something unstable."

I couldn't listen to her talk about herself anymore. It was painful to me, to my heart, and to her. I pulled her in close and pressed my mouth to hers insistently. She tried to shove me away, but for once I just needed her to trust me completely. I needed _my_ Penn to come back, not this person. I knew the real girl that was hiding underneath this mask. So I kept kissing her, never once demanding more that I thought she would give. Like magic, she melted beside me. The hands that had been shoving against my shirtless skin slid up to my shoulders and clasped them for support.

She stretched herself up to her full length so that she could get to me. I buried my hand in her hair and used my left arm to pull her tighter to my chest. Absently, she brushed her toes along my leg until she had slid her knee between mine. I sucked her lip into my mouth in the way that I noticed she liked. In response, she nipped on my lip and sent blood surging through me. My desire got the better of me for a minute, but that was all it took. I lifted her gently and brought her to lie on my chest like a rag doll. The only thing that showed the transition was the hand that flipped her hair to one side.

I could feel her heart almost better than I could hear it. It pounded in her chest as she kissed me back. I wondered, briefly, if she had ever kissed anyone else like this. But the untutored, nervous slip of her tongue along my lip told me that she hadn't. I doubted she'd been properly kissed ever. God only knows what those men did to her.

The thought made me realize what I was doing and just how close I was to losing control of myself. I gentled the kiss and pulled myself back. Her reluctance almost unmanned me, but I managed to hold firm. "Are you afraid?" I asked her. She nodded. "You've been around the wolf side of me, Penn. You must know that I'm not dangerous as a wolf," I promised. She laughed a breathy whisper and laid her head down on my chest, not making a move to pull away from me.

"I'm not afraid of that," she muttered. I could hear the exhaustion creeping into her voice. I almost wished that she would stop sleeping as much as she did. But the pains that she had endured were still healing and Carlisle had said her body did that best while resting. The emotional stress of the day probably hadn't helped her either. She yawned, the sound delicate and catlike. She nestled her cheek against my chest. "I'm scared of the way that you make me feel Embry. When you say things, when you kiss me, you make me feel like I'm normal. Like I'm more than," she broke off, not finishing the sentence. I looked down, wondering if she'd fallen asleep, but her eyes were fixed on a spot on the wall.

"More than what?" I asked her.

"Nothing." I sighed. One day, she was going to have to tell me what she really thought. Not knowing was going to drive me mad.

"They took so much from you, Penn," I said suddenly. She shifted uncomfortably. "But I'm not here to take from you. I want to give you something that I don't think any of them have. I want to teach you what it feels like to have a family that you can trust, to have someone take care of you. That's all I want to do. That's all I've ever wanted to do, Penn." She shifted again, but this time it was so that she could look at me. I felt like I'd imprinted again when she stared at me with those glorious amber eyes.

"Is that why you became Ember?"

"You hated Embry," I replied.

"I didn't _know_ Embry. He was a little bit of a dick, from what I could tell," she murmured. Her fingers traced my cheeks like I was a painting in her mind. "But I think I love this Embry." She laid her cheek down on me again and almost instantly fell asleep while I was still processing.

She loved me. Whether she meant to say it or not, it was a thought in her mind. She loved me.


	38. Chapter XXXVII

**Author's Note: Here we are! TUESDAY, Jared & Kim's story ****_Chivalry is Dead_**** will be up. I'm hoping to have Seth's up on Thursday, but there are no guarantees. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter XXXVII**

It had been three days since Embry had explained about the wolf stuff. And _imprinting_. Even saying the word in my head made me want to sneer. I just couldn't believe that anyone would think that me, a broken down bitch, would be the woman for Embry Call. He needed more than just me. He needed someone that was warm and caring. He needed someone that could have his fat little babies and hold him all through the night. I wasn't that person. He swore on his life, and then on mine, that he would wait for me as long as I needed him to. I don't think that he understood what he'd gotten himself into. But when I tried to reiterate my inability to be a normal human being, he'd just snarled and threatened to kiss me. I'm still slightly confused as to how _that_ was a punishment. A kiss from Embry call was like floating on a cloud.

It was strange how much I liked kissing him. I'd never enjoyed intimacy, for obvious reasons. I always told myself that I had done a million different things with a thousand different men and there was nothing different about it. But With Embry, there _was_ something different. He never demanded that I do anything. Whenever I tried those tricks that I'd read about in my romance novels, he didn't respond. I may be a broken shadow of a human being, but I was still a hopeless romantic. Maybe that's where Embry got me. Maybe it was because I desperately longed for what I read about in those damn books and for once in my life, it felt like there was someone that could give it to me.

"How are you feeling this morning?" he asked. I jumped a little, startled by his quiet voice in the kitchen. "Sorry; I didn't mean to scare you." He came to stand directly behind me, an arm on either side of me in a very affectionate gesture. I felt his lips in my hair and then his chin resting on the ground of my head. "Penn," he growled when he realized what I was doing. His right hand came forward to pull the coffee grinds from my hands. "No."

"Em, I'm walking around the house like a normal person. I can pretty sure shower on my own. Please," I begged. I don't think the boy understood how much I valued my coffee. I was barely functioning without it. "Please, Embry." He sighed heavily and for a brief moment, I thought that I was actually going to get my coffee back.

And then he reached over my head to a cabinet that was empty because I was too short to reach it. He lightly lobbed the grounds into it's depth while I turned around to glare at him. "Make some tea, love," he suggested. I mocked him, doing a horrible impression of his wonderfully deep voice. He only laughed at me and propped himself up on the counter. "How are you feeling this morning?" he asked again.

"Like I want coffee," I grumbled. He chuckled again.

"Maybe we could go over to see my mom today," he suggested. "She's hoping that, since it's been almost two weeks since your attack, you'll feel ready to start working." The word sent an involuntary shiver down my spine. Embry tried to ignore it, but I saw the pain flash in his eyes. "She doesn't want you to fall behind on anything." I nodded. Bills had already shown up in the mail and I wasn't sure how I was going to pay for them. I hadn't been paid at the club. And I had lost my job at McDonalds because I failed to show up for work. What I had in my savings account would barely get me through the month. There certainly wouldn't be any money left over for groceries.

"Your mom's right," I said, lifting the kettle with a slightly shaking hand. "I should be getting back to work." I didn't tell him why. Embry had this bad habit of blaming himself for everything that happened where I was concerned. "It might be nice to go and have coffee with your mother," I added.

"Tea," he shouted back, jumping down off the counter and heading to the bedroom. "I'm getting dressed and showering."

"In that order, huh?" I teased.

"We'll go after I get off of patrol. Jared's going to come and sit with you, okay?" I frowned a little and started to tremble, but I still whispered my acceptance. Since I'd had my minor meltdown with him the other day, I hadn't actually seen Jared. Embry swore that the other wolf wasn't upset with me and that there were no hard feelings or anything, but I couldn't help but wonder exactly _what_ Jared felt. I had freaked out on him in a way that I shouldn't have. I should have been in better control of myself but I wasn't. I was more than a little apprehensive about sitting with him for the morning.

But I was determined not to disappoint Embry or worse, embarrass him, again. In fact, I was going to be a good hostess. With that thought in mind, I carefully maneuvered myself around the kitchen. There was no real reason to cook when everyone had made so much food for me. I pulled some muffins and scones from the refrigerator and placed them in the oven to heat. Embry had warned me about how much the wolves could eat. Two dozen should be enough for him.

Embry's arm startled me when I bent down to grab the treats out of the oven. "You were stabbed in the stomach. You shouldn't be bending over." I glared at him. How was I supposed to get back to normal if he kept babying me? "Carlisle said that I was supposed to spoil you rotten," he said as if he was privy to my unspoken question. "What are you making?"

"Some food that all your people left me," I replied quietly. "To apologize to Jared for freaking out."

"I already told you that he's not going to care. He's not upset with you," Embry said just as quietly. "He's not even going to comment, I promise."

"Why do I feel like you've threatened him with bodily harm if he does?" I meant to say it as a joke but any humor in my voice died at the serious look on his face. "Embry!"

"I didn't want him to make you feel uncomfortable," he attempted

"How are your friends ever supposed to like me if you're threatening them all?"

"Not all of them. Just Jared." Was that supposed to make it better? Because all it did was make me uncomfortable. "Okay, he's coming up the walk way. I should get going. I'll see you soon and then we'll head to my mom's for dinner okay?" I nodded and he made to leave the cooking area. I don't know why he hadn't, but he hasn't kissed me since the day that he'd explained imprinting to me. It was strange to me, especially since he swore that man and wolf both wanted me.

Patience just had never been a virtue of mine. I grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him closer to me. "Be safe," I muttered against his lips. I kissed him then, throwing everything I had into his kiss. Or, I guess it was mine this time. I steadied myself with his forearm and the side of his neck, my fingers curling around the short hairs at the nape of his neck and dragging him even tighter. Finally, what seemed like ages later, I broke away from him. Of course, me pulling away didn't necessarily stop him. He pressed another light kiss to my lips before attacking my cheeks, my nose, my forehead. "I'll see you real soon."

He nodded, his breathing ragged in between us. I bit my tongue, swallowing the three words that would imprison me for the rest of my life. "Hey, Em!" Jared shouted.

"That's my cue," Embry replied. "Jared will help you with anything that you need. You tell him if you need help, Penn. Promise?" I nodded. "No; I'm serious. Promise me."

"I promise."

"Good." His lips pressed against my forehead again, a promise sweeter than any I had known. Jared sat himself in the living room like he'd been to this house every day of his life. "Go take a bath. It'll feel good." I nodded and then waved a little to Jared.

"Let me know if you need anything," Jared replied solicitously.

"Bye, Love," Embry called behind his shoulder. I frowned as I made my way back to the bathroom. He said it so casually, like he meant every word and fully intended to have me be this little person for the rest of my life. But could i be?

I pondered the question while I took my bath. I laid back in the water, thinking about him and all the promises that he was silently making until the water was frigid cold and my fingers looked like prunes. I braced my hands on either side of the porcelain tub and tried to heave myself up. My arms quickly gave out on me, sending the liquid in the tub sloshing over to the floor. Couldn't even get out of a fucking bathtub on my own. This sucked. I tried again, but was met with the same result. Pretty soon, there was more water on the floor than there was in the tub. I leaned back against the cold tiling and sighed heavily. I knew what I had to do; I just didn't _want_ to. Trusting Embry was one thing. He may be sure of his friends, but I didn't know any of them. Still, I couldn't get out of the damn tub. "Jared," I said quietly.He was by my side in the next instant, eyes closed. "What are you doing?"

"Embry was very specific. We help you however you need, but we don't look," he explain. "Could you just get me to your armpits?" It was a terribly awkward situation to be in, but Jared seemed to taking it all rather well. I took his hands in mine and did as he asked. Much like Embry would, he lifted me like a feather until my legs were dangling a few inches over the edge and he could safely move me. "We all understand. I wouldn't want anyone looking at my imprint naked." He shuddered and growled like the thought made him want to explode. "Can you stand?"

"Yes," I muttered. His eyes opened briefly, but they were turned away from me. He reached for a length of toweling and held it out behind him. "I can make it from here. I just needed help out of the tub. Thank you."

"You betcha," he replied with a smile.

"Hey Jared?" I wrapped the towel tightly around me feeling a little less shy now that I was covered. "I'm dressed, you can look at me," I whispered when he hadn't turned around. His eyes sparkled with laughter when he turned to look at me. "I'm sorry about last time you were here. I didn't mean to freak out on you."

He laughed and patted my shoulder in an awkward gesture. "You freaked out because of a bad memory. I turn into a wolf when I'm angry. We've all got out problems," he shrugged. "Just don't take the wolf thing. That's mine."

For the first time in my life, I laughed with a _man._ And a man that wasn't Embry. Maybe he was right about opening up after all.


	39. Chapter XXXVIII

**Author's Note: Here you guys are! Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter XXXVIII**

"Come here, love," Embry said a little while after he came home. I came to him willingly, taking caution of my steps. My leg had started to burn and itch a little. Carlisle assured me that it would be a normal step in the healing process. But it was probably the most irritating thing I had gone through as far as healing went. "How'd things go with Jared?" he asked once he had me wrapped in his arms.

"He's funny," I replied. Jared and I had managed an actual conversation this time around. As I'd expected, he'd eaten all the morning stuff that I'd put out for him and thanked me for giving him food. I learned a lot about imprints when I was with him. He didn't go into great detail, but said that he'd never really noticed his imprint before he became a wolf. It was strange because I'd never thought of him as a jerk, but the way that he explained himself made him sound like a douche. I said as much to Embry.

"Yeah, it's a wolf thing," he said. "We tend to blame ourselves for stuff that isn't really out fault when it comes to our imprints. You're right; Jared's never been a _bad_ guy. But he was the jock who had everything that he wanted. It wasn't that he wasn't nice to everyone, it was just that he paid more attention to people who were higher up on the social ladder. And Kim just wasn't." I nodded. "He just had to learn that there is more to people than just reputation and status."

"And that's why the Spirits chose Kim for him?" Embry nodded. "But then... Why'd they choose me for you? I'm no good at all this kind of stuff. I don't know how to help you. I mean, you're..." perfect... "you're great, Em."

"But I wasn't. Not until I started to get to know you. The Embry that you saw in the very beginning was more like me. I thought that, because I was the bastard child of La Push, I had it the worst. All of my friends have mothers and fathers. Even Sam, whose dad walked out on him, had it better in my mind. At least he had a father. But I realized, after I started hanging out with you, that knowing your parents or not, in my case, didn't mean that your life was perfect. It didn't make your life any better than anyone else's. You knew your parents. I think it would be safe to say that you've had more struggles than anyone else that I know." I blushed red, not wanting to acknowledge what he was saying. "Are you ready to go over to my mom's?" he asked.

He did that a lot; he changed the subject whenever I started to feel uncomfortable. The weird thing was that I didn't know how he knew that I wasn't okay with what we were talking about. He just... did. I nodded in response to his question and let him help me up from my spot on the couch. "You walking?" he questioned then, helping me slide my slippers onto my feet. La Push had to many bumps and holes for us to drive. Or, at least, that's what Embry said every time that I suggested we go somewhere. He said he was worried about the car ride and it hurting me.

"No, I was planning to crawl today," I replied.

"Well, at least we know that your terrible sense of humor is back intact," he said. His large hand fitted to the small of my back, filtering through the layers of cloth that I was wearing. We both knew that I would only make it so far on foot and then Embry would have to carry me the rest of the way. But I don't think that he really minded. And now that I knew about the wolves, I knew that he was basically Superman. He could lift me like I was nothing more than a bed sheet. "Hey, love, Mom doesn't know about all the wolf stuff. It's for her protection, and mine. The last thing that I need is for her to be worrying about me every time that I go out places."

"Where do you guys go?" I asked him. He explained what it meant when he said patrol. But somewhere in the midst of all of that, something caught my attention. A group of - - royal vampires that were coming for - - Ryanne Swan. What was he talking about? "You're going to fight them?" I asked him.

He bent down and scooped me up into his arms. "We don't think so; at least, we're hoping to avoid it. See, Bella Swan married Edward Cullen and -"

"Did she know that he was a vampire?"

"Yep."

"But I thought that she was dating Jacob Black for a little while? You know, before Ryanne started dating him." This was like the most confusing soap opera that I had ever seen.

"If you will just keep those pretty little lips shut, I'll explain." I snapped my mouth shut and looked up at him expectantly. "Like I said, Bella married Edward and got pregnant. Their kid, Renesmee, she's a half breed. But I guess the Volturi thought that she was an immortal child." I opened my mouth. "Yeah, I know you don't know what that is. A long time ago, people used to change children because vampires can't have kids. But children don't know how to control themselves so the Volturi killed them all. They thought that Bella and Edward created another. So they're coming after Nessie, who's protected by the Pack. And then on top of that, they're coming after Ryanne. She's Jake's imprint and she met them when she went to Italy to get Edward back. They thought that she was going to die so they let her go but now they know that she's alive so they're coming after her too."

"Are you guys preparing for a fight?" I asked him. He nodded. "Are you going to get hurt?"

"We're built to kill vampires," he said with a laugh.

"Does that mean that there's no threat?" He didn't give me an answer. "Embry," I said. "Is there any threat?" I repeated.

"Yes, Penn." I sighed and tried to figure out just how I was supposed to react to all that. "We can talking about that more later. We're here now and I don't want my mother to know about this." I nodded. He kept marching towards the house then, not saying another word about the wolf stuff. He bent down and put me on my feet right out front of the house then. "Look at me," he said when I was still staring at the ground. I didn't. He sighed and pulled my chin up, forcing my face to angle upwards. "What are you worried about?"

"Nothing." Nothing that I could talk to him about, of course. Because as calm as he was about this fight, I was afraid that I was going to lose him. Losing him would tear the heart I didn't have out of my chest. He growled and opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but Lucy opened the door in front of us.

"It's so good to see you, sweetie!" she exclaimed. She wrapped her arms gently around me like she hadn't seen me less than a week ago. "Come on in. Dinner's almost ready." She took Embry's hand, effectively leading both of us into the house since Embry had a secure grip on my hand. "You must be getting tired. Why don't you go take a seat in the dining room. I'll bring out dinner shortly."

"I can help," I tried to say but she shot me a look that told me to just my mouth. I almost laughed at how much she looked like Embry in that moment. He caught my elbow and gently pulled me in the direction of the dinning room. "Really, Embry, I can help. Let me do something." I didn't like just sitting there staring at the walls while his mother was busy working in the kitchen.

"She's just as stubborn as I am," he warned. "And don't you think for one moment that we're done talking about the fight thing either."

"What do you want to know, Embry?" I asked him. I wasn't going to tell him what I was thinking. I couldn't tell him that I was afraid of losing him. He wouldn't understand what a big deal that was for me. I was a bitch. I didn't care about anyone. The problem was that every day that I spent with Embry made him more and more precious to me.

"We can't talk about this right now, love. Mom's going to be out here any minute," he said. "But I _need_ to know what you're thinking. Okay? You can tell me anything," he promised.

"Embry mentioned that you liked salmon," Lucy said. Embry's hand fell to my knee and he turned to his mother with a smile. "It's one of his old favorites from when he was little." I guess that should have been my prelude to how the night was going to go. The next two hours were spent listening to stories about Embry's childhood and some of the stupid things that he'd done. "I'll bring some tea into the living room," she said after we had finished eating and the leftover foods were cold on the table. "Go on," she said when I had yet to move.

The day was getting long, even though it was going eight at night and I'd taken a nap earlier in the day. Embry moved his hand from my thigh and took my hand. "We can go home if you're too tired," he said. I shook my head, despite the fact that I could feel my eyes drooping. "Penn," he warned.

"I'm fine. I don't want to leave yet," I muttered. He sighed and gave in, helping me over to his mother's couch and letting me rest against his side. I told myself to stay awake, to wait for Lucy at the very least. I told myself that I needed to talk to Embry later. But even as the thought ran through my brain, the stern commands right behind them, my head dropped against Embry's shoulder and my eyes falling. And the last thing that I heard was Embry's deep chuckle.

Asshole was laughing at me.

...Oh well.


	40. Chapter XXXIX

**Author's Note: I know I'm late, but I had to rework the prologue for ****_Chivalry is Dead_****. By the way, that's up for those who want to read. Enjoy tonight's chapter!**

**Chapter XXXIX:****_ Embry's Point of View_**

"I'm fine," she insisted as the night went on. She had such a busy day that day and even when I came home. "I don't want to leave yet." She was barely speaking, her voice was so quiet. But I could hear them clearly. I could see her fighting herself, trying to stay awake so that she could visit with my mother. She quickly lost, though. Her beautiful black hair felt like the softest silk, like cashmere. Her eyes drifted closed with the gracefulness of a butterfly's wings. Her breathing quickly evened out and she fell asleep. I chuckled, listening to her light snores. She just had to be so damned stubborn.

"I didn't realize that she was so tired," Mom said when she walked into the room. I wrapped my arm around Penn's shoulders and dragged her along the couch with me. I nestled myself in the corner of the couch, between the arm and the cushioned back. I cuddled Penn closer to me and let her head flop against my shoulder.

"She wouldn't have let you see, Ma," I replied. "She's a stubborn little thing." Mom smiled at me and nodded her agreement of my assessment.

"It seems like she's a little more comfortable than she was before the attack," she said. My mother had always had a keen eye for people. She was very empathetic. Many times, that one particular trait got to her. If there was tension between people or anger or anything else, it would actually effect her. Prime example, you could always tell when work had been tough for her because she would come home angry at anyone who got in her way. "You two working things out?" I nodded and yawned but she just eyed me instead. "What's wrong?"

"How do you know something's wrong?" I asked her, hoping to evade the question.

"I'm your mother. I know everything." I smiled at her, wishing that I could join my imprint in sleep. "Now what's wrong?"

"I thought you knew everything."

"Don't sass your mother," she retorted. Her look was expectant. I looked down to Penn to make sure that she was asleep. I lifted a little strand of hair from her face and tucked it just behind her ear. "Embry?"

"The honest truth, Ma?"

"Would you give me anything less?"

"She had a tougher past than I could have ever dreamed of," I admitted. "I don't want to let her see how much it hurts." The predicament with Penn was that I couldn't let her see any real weakness on my part. She needed someone to be strong for her. She needed someone to fight for her. And I couldn't do that when I was fixated on her pain. Whenever I started thinking about the things that she had gone through, I could feel myself losing control. But all of that had taken its toll on me. I was exhausted and in danger of losing control more than ever.

"Have you talked to her about it?"

"She doesn't need someone to _talk_ to her, Ma," I said. "She needs someone to make her feel like that's not all there is to her."

"I'm sure she appreciates knowing that you're there for her, Embry. But you have to take care of yourself if you're going to take care of her. I would suggest that you tell her what's wrong. Tell her how upset it's al made you. She'll understand; she's been dealing with it for so many years herself." Mom had a point, one that was kind of difficult to admit to myself. Penn seemed so strong all the time. It was rare that she actually showed how much her past had broken her. I mean, consciously, of course. When she wasn't awake, I could see exactly what had been done to her. But once she was aware of herself and her surroundings, it was seldom that I saw the after effects of her childhood. Clearly she had learned how to deal with it. "If you want to be her hero, Em, being the strongest might not be the solution." What was she talking about? Every girl dreamt about the Superman who would protect her from anything. "Even Superman has his kryptonite, Embry," she said as if she'd read my thoughts. "We're all vulnerable at some point in our lives, son."

I didn't say anything and whatever I might have been thinking scattered when Penn let out a sound of distress. Both mine and my mother's gaze flew to Penn's sleeping form. She attempted to bury herself into my flesh. The hand that was pinned between my chest and hers wriggled its way to her ribs. "I should get her into bed," I said immediately. It probably wasn't very comfortable for her to be sitting upright while she was trying to sleep. "She gets some bad night terrors," I admitted. I wanted desperately to tell someone that _wasn't_ Penn about what happened to her. But I couldn't. It would destroy our mending trust. I doubted she would be very upset with my telling my mother about her restlessness. "Thanks for dinner, Ma," I said. I gathered Penn to my chest, smoothing her hair away from her face before I stood. "Penn was really happy to have some fish."

I leaned down and kissed Mom's check, gently squeezing Penn's head between my bicep and my chest so that she wouldn't go flopping around while I was moving around. "You take good care of that girl, Embry. I think she can use someone there for her." Wasn't that what I had said? "Being there for her doesn't mean that you never show anything to her though."

"You really do know everything huh?" She just laughed and kissed Penn's cheek, holding the door open for us. "Night, Ma." She repeated the farewell and watched us disappear into the forest. I tucked Penn's winter jacket tighter around her as we dove deeper into the forest. Maybe Ma was right; Penn wasn't one to judge. She just wasn't. And I highly doubted that me explaining how angry and flustered it made me to hear about her past would infuriate her. It might confuse her. She'd said several times in the course of the last few weeks that she didn't know people could care for other people the way I did for her. I thought that she was talking about love but I'd grown to understand that she was talking about the concern. It hurt my heart to think about the fact that no way gave a damn about her.

"Embry?" I started at the quiet murmur of her voce. I had expected her to stay asleep all the way home. I looked down at her with a slight smile. "You're an asshole," she accused groggily. I laughed a little.

"What'd I do?"

"You laughed at me when I fell asleep," she explained. Apparently she hadn't been as far gone as I'd thought. "I didn't mean to fall asleep when your mother was coming in for tea."

"She didn't mind, love," I replied. "She actually felt bad. She thought that she'd overworked you."

Her perfectly arched brows came together in confusion. "But you guys wouldn't let me do anything." She had me there. Mom and I had made her sit there like a bump on a log so that she didn't get too tired. It looked like it hadn't done us much good thought. Her fingers wrapped around my shirt and rubbed her cheek just above her hands. "How can you overwork someone who didn't work?"

"It's a little different when the someone in question was attacked only a few weeks ago," I replied. "It's okay to be tired, love." She didn't look like she thought that it was okay, but she only moved to nestle herself a little closer. "I'm sorry that I laughed at you. I was just happy that you actually gave in. I'm very sorry."

She yawned. "No you're not; I wouldn't be." I rolled my eyes at her and paid more attention to the terrain around me. I couldn't help but think that it was time for her to go on a real date. She needed to know that I wasn't in this for a short run or a brief kiss here or there. Hell, I wasn't even there for the soul stirring kiss she'd given me. I would gladly wait for the rest of my life for another one of those. I could live without her kissing me again. It would be really, really, difficult. But if that was what it took for her to realize that I wanted to be with her for the rest of her life, then that's what I would do for her.

A new smell drifted into my senses. I paused in my walk and tried to identify the aroma. The stench of alcohol burned my nose as I stepped closer. I stopped again and made sure to pull the jacket up over her head, glad that she was asleep again. Once I was sure that she was hidden beneath the fabric and secured in my arms, I continued. I finally smelled the man underneath the smoke and booze. Whoever it was definitely had a male scent to him and a lingering Old Spice fragrance. "Do you know where she is?" he slurred at me. The man staggered closer to me.

"Where who is, sir?" I figured it was best to be polite.

"My daughter. Penelope."


	41. Chapter XL

**Author's Note: Not much to say today. ****_Falling With Style_**** has been posted. It will serve as an extended epilogue for all of the other stories I have going, as it takes place five years after the end of ****_The_** _**Consequences. **_**Enjoy!**

**Chapter XL**

"Try to touch her again, and I'll rip your hand off." Embry's shout startled me out of my contented slumber. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I was comfortable hanging in his strong arms, but I was warm and happy when Embry was holding me. Clearly, he wasn't in quite the same mood. "And I guarantee you, I'm just looking for a reason." He couldn't be talking to me. That wasn't a tone of voice that I'd ever heard Embry speak with. I frowned and opened my eyes, but all I could see was the dark inside of my jacket.

"Embry?" His arms tightened around me infinitesimally. "What's wrong?"

"Sh, love." He was hushing me? He was the one that was screaming and angry. "Just wait a few minutes." I wiggled, hoping that he would set me down. But he didn't. Instead, he just hushed me again. "I won't let him touch you, Penn." Ken? Was it Ken that was here? I mean, that would make sense. It could very well be Ken. That would explain his anger. Ken was the one who attacked me.

"I have a right to be with her." I froze. My heart stopped beating almost instantly. "I'm her father."

"You were her pimp," my wolf-man snarled. That bark was all it took for me to realize what was happening. My father had found me. He was back. And from the smell of him, he wasn't sober yet. I clutched at Embry, wrapping my arm around his neck so that I wasn't just sitting in his arms like a limp fish. "No one wants you here."

"I'm her father," the man who was supposed to love me said. "It doesn't matter what the court says."

"You're right," Embry said. "The court can't say that you're not her father. But I can." He shoved past my father without hesitation and opened my front door. "You sit right here, love."

"Embry," I moaned. I would feel so much better if he was holding me. My father was a dastardly sneaking man. If Em wasn't here, my father would take me. No amount of fighting would get me out of it. But the dark look on his face said that he wasn't willing to negotiate on this. "Don't do anything that's going to get you in trouble, Em."

"I'll be right back," he promised.

"Let me come with you," I begged.

"And do what, Penn?"

"Just don't leave me in here, Embry. I'll stand behind you," I said. I felt bad. I was using my needs against him. Embry was too caring to make me stay in the house when I was pleading with him like that. He didn't know that I was doing it because I wanted to keep my eyes on him. I had never seen a look that was anything like the one he had when he'd seen my father. It was rage, disgust, and murder all rolled into one. I couldn't risk losing him like that. He was liable to lose his temper the second that my father opened his mouth. And that would mean an immediate wolf.

"You stay behind me and you go inside the second that he gets within three feet of you," he snapped at me with a deep frown. I nodded eagerly. It had only been seconds since we had walked in the house and my should-be father was pacing in the front yard of my house.

"Penelope," he sighed. "It's so good to see you, sugar." I felt like I was a little girl again. I could see my father dismantling my bed and telling me what a terrible young girl that I'd been. Mom had left because of me; that's the way it always went. I was being punished for the things that I hadn't even realized that I had done. Instead, I clung to the only person in this world that seemed make things work. Embry. I fisted my hands around his shirt and pushed my head on his shoulder so that I could still see what was going on, but I was completely covered by the man. "Are you scared of me, sugar? I'm your daddy."

I felt vomit burning at the back of my throat as he spoke. I shook in disgust and Embry growled. His own trembling began, foreshadowing his phase. "Embry, stop," I pleaded with him. He was going to end up hurting himself if he wasn't careful. He had explained how painful it could be if one of the wolves couldn't calm themselves down and had to fight the phase. It's what had happened when he first phased. "You're right here, Em. He can't hurt me."

"I wouldn't hurt you, sugar pie," my father claimed. I could feel myself beginning to hyperventilate. "I'm your father. I'm here to protect you."

Well, so much for calming Embry down. He began heaving for air, his chest rising and falling. Growls were building in his chest, the likes of which could frighten a bear. "You didn't protect me when I was little," I muttered into Embry's skin. "You sold me. I was a child and you sold me." That reminder to myself was the only thing that I needed to remember what he had done. The Penn that had built herself up without the help of anyone returned. And with Embry right beside her, she could face everything. Including the man who had single-handedly destroyed her life. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"You think that you were ever out of my sights, Penelope? I have people all over this town," he said. I shivered at the sound of his voice. "You know who I'm talking about, right Penelope?" I knew that it was wrong, but my immediate thought was Embry. Other than Charlie, he was the first person that I had let in. But the growls of disgust that were shaking the man in front of me said that he had nothing to do with this mess. It wasn't him.

Two shadowy figures stepped out of the tree line. Instantly, I recognized them. I shouldn't have been so surprised to see Ken mixed in with the likes of my father. But Greg? I had trusted him. He was supposed to be the normal one in the club. He was the one that all of us girls went to. We all knew that Ken had him well paid off, but he was still the one who backed us up and told Ken to shut it. Sitting here realizing that he was one of the people who helped orchestrate my pain was almost painful. "I have friends in many places, Penelope. And I knew it wouldn't be long before you realized what you were. You're the daughter of a whore. You're no better yourself."

"Don't talk about her like that," Embry snarled. "You don't know anything about her." He didn't have much rom to talk. He'd only known me for a few months. Then again, the amount of time that Embry had spent with me was more than my father had in thirteen years. More men started to come from the bushes, joining my father.

"Embry," I cautioned. He couldn't take on all of these men. Even if he was a wolf, he couldn't do it. These were men that had taken part in my childhood and others like them. If I knew my father, he'd have brought all the reinforcements he felt necessary to keep me. "Look." I breathed the word hoping that he head me. Clearly he had because his gaze traveled the small clearing around my house.

"Go in the house," he growled.

"I can't leave you out here." I couldn't leave him to face these men on his own. Supernatural healing or not, he would die out there by himself. "I can't let you do this."

"And I can't let them hurt the girl I love," he replied. My heart froze in my chest. He loved me. I mean, I had assumed that he felt that way because of the nickname that he gave me. But he'd never actually said that he loved me. "Get in the house."

"No." He loved Penn when she was in recovery. God only knows how he would feel about me when I was behaving like my normal self. "I'm not going."

"Your dear daddy has fallen on hard times, sugar plum," he said. I looked away from Embry's burning gaze to my father. "I'm afraid that I'm going to need your help pulling myself out of this rut again."

"Get out of here," I commanded. I stepped out from behind Embry and managed to make it in front of him before he realized what just happened. His arms wrapped around me and hauled me back against his chest. "No one wants you here. I'm emancipated. You can't get a hold of me." And that was ignoring the fact that Embry didn't seem to be willing to let anyone within ten feet of me.

My father dug into his back pocket and eyed me with a dangerous smile that I'd seen many times before. It was the one that I got before every single punishment I had ever received. "We'll see about that."


	42. Chapter XLI

**Author's Note: Not much to say today. I hope you all enjoy it. Love and gratitude!**

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**Chapter XLI**

I was trying to glare at my father, but I couldn't. There was icy cold fear coursing running through my veins that prevented me from doing anything other than freaking out. The source of my torture pulled a knife from his back pocket; it wasn't very long and, in truth, it wasn't very intimidating. But when all his little groupies started pulling theirs out as well, I realized just how dangerous this situation was. And Embry wouldn't leave me stranded out here. There was no way that he could fight them and protect me at the same time.

And one look in Embry's eyes said that he knew the same thing.

The men started crowding in, trying to intimidate us by the sheer multitude. It might not have been terrifying for Embry, but I was certainly scared shitless. I let my spine turn to goop and sank into Embry's chest for support. His warmth seeped into me, infusing my spine with strength that I was terribly lacking. I was stronger with him there. "They're going to jump, Penn," he murmured low in my ear. "But they're afraid. Especially Ken; I can smell it. You have to run, love."

My heart froze. I couldn't leave him here. Wolf or not, they would kill him. They would keep slashing and stabbing and kicking until there was nothing left of him. He'd told me that he could heal at a quicker rate than humans, but it wouldn't matter if his heart wasn't in his chest. I raised up on my tip toes to be closer to his ears and whispered quieter than I ever had. "I won't leave you out here with them," I said. I couldn't. They would kill him. I couldn't be responsible for his death. He had a mom that actually loved him, real friends that he enjoyed being around, a family. I couldn't take that from him. And I couldn't take him from them. "It's me they want, Embry. Go."

"If you think I'm going to leave you in the middle of the forest these monsters, Penn, then I haven't done a good enough job of convincing you," he snarled. "I can't fight them while you're here and I can't fight them on my own." He had a look in his eye like there was more that he wanted to say more. But there was nothing else that came out of his mouth. He just kept looking at them, occasionally sparing me a glance. My father and his men continued to creep closer, their knives close to their sides. "You can go and get help, Penn. Go and find Paul or Jared. Someone is on patrol. When they attack, you run for the hills. That way!" He pointed discreetly to the area that would eventually lead to the border between La Push and Forks. "When you can't hear the guys shouting, call for the guys."

"Embry." I couldn't leave him. I couldn't do this on my own. Without him, I don't know what I would do. I wasn't the same Penn Rivers that I was when we'd first met. I had learned what it was like to be with someone, to trust someone. To _love_ someone. Now, whether I liked it or nothing, I couldn't go back to being self reliant. I needed him.

"They'll keep you safe." Before another word could be said about it, the guys around us pounced just as Embry said they would. He shoved me out of the way, sending me leaping towards the border like he'd wanted. It took six of them piled atop him to get Embry to lay still. He could have wolfed out, could have destroyed them all. But one explosion of his temper, one swipe of his paw, I would be scratched to pieces. He couldn't phase while I was still here. "Go!" he screamed.

My father was at the bottom of the heap, but I could see him struggling to get out. "Get her! Don't let her go!" he shouted.

"Run, Penn!" Embry's voice carried over the quiet. I had to protect him. I had to get him help. But running with a bum leg was easier so than done. I hobbled along, the deep cut Ken gave me stinging. I should have known that he was working with my father. I should have suspected when he managed to create the exact same wound. I went as quick as I could though, repeating Embry's instructions in my head. When I couldn't hear them anymore, I could scream for help.

But if I kept waiting, help wouldn't get there in time. "Help! Jared! Paul! Help us!" He'd said that there were more of them. "Wolves! Jacob! Quil! Sam! Somebody! Please, you have to help him!" A large sandy brown wolf jumped out at me, a little smaller than Embry. I shrieked and fell backwards, landing hard on my ass. "Em-m-Embry needs your help," I stuttered. "Please; he's being attacked." A silver-blue wolf jumped out then. The color of moonlight, like Charlie said. "Paul!" I exclaimed. I wasn't really thinking. I rushed towards him because I knew it was him. I could trust him instead of this other one. "Paul, please, my father is back. You have to help him."

There was some ear swiveling and a few yaps and then the brown one jumped over me. Paul eyed me with a look that told me to stay and bounded off into the forest. Moments later, he was back, human and shirtless. I could feel the anxiety eating at me, gnawing on my stomach. It was one thing to see Embry without a shirt. But anyone else... They could hurt me. They could be just like the others. Like the men that were now helping my father. "He's okay, Penn," he promised. "Remember the wolf mind link?" I nodded. "I've talked to him, Penn. He's okay. You just have to relax."

How could I relax when Embry wasn't here? How could I be calm when he was moments away from dying? Paul could be lying to me. It wouldn't be the first time that a man had done something like that to me. "He wants me to get you out of here."

"I can't leave him here, Paul," I panicked.

"Sorry, Penn," he said. In a flash he was at my side, stooping to pick me up to his chest. "I'm really sorry and I'll pay for it from you and him and Charlotte later. But you've got to come with me." I shrieked and fought, feeling like I had all those times in my father's house. "Come on, there's a cave up here that you can hide in."

It wasn't like I had much of a choice with him carting me away. He sprinted through the forest, but I could only tell because of the wind that was blowing past me. I wasn't being jostled. He was just as smooth as Embry was when he ran. And then he stopped, ducking down into a low cave. "H-h-he n-n-needs your help Paul. Y-y-you sh-sh-should g-g-go." I wished I could get rid of my stutter. I tried to calm my heartbeat. He hadn't hurt Charlie. I respected the man and his relationship with my cousin. Embry trusted him. I could trust him. I could do this.

"Sorry, Penn," he said for the third time that night. "I told him that I would protect you. I told him that I would watch out for you."

"But he needs you. Paul, he needs anyone and everyone that he can get." I thrashed against him again, but he wouldn't release me. "Paul, please, I'll stay right here. I'll wait for you guys. But he needs you."

"I can't."

"Why not?" I screamed at him.

"Because if this were a different situation and Embry was here with Charlie, I would want him to stay with her. You're our imprints, Penn. We just want to protect you. We can't stand to lose you guys. And the best way for us to make sure that you're safe is by having someone with you." He let go of me but placed me deeper into the cave. I had no chance to get by him. I rested against the cave wall. I could feel my leg throbbing and my breath catching. "You can rest on me, Penn. I'm not going to hurt you." It was hard for me to believe, what with the forcible carrying of me only a few moments ago.

Still, I tentatively shifted closer to him and rested my cheek against his shoulder. I was wishing for an entirely different Spirit Warrior, though. "You're bleeding," he muttered.

"I must have ripped some stitches," I replied, still thinking about my wolf. He needed to come and find me. He needed to be okay. I needed him to be okay. He gasped suddenly, causing me to jerk my head upright. "Paul?"

"Everything's fine. It's okay. Embry's heading our way," he said. "He'll be here in five, four, three, two."

Paul's time was perfect. Embry came bursting through the cave's opening a moment later. "You're okay," he whispered. The words were like a quiet prayer, a sigh of relief. He was really worried that I was hurt? He was the one who'd been captured by my father. "Is that- - Does that smell like blood? Are you _bleeding_?" He crashed down by my side, his hands finding my face. "What hurts love? Are you hurt?"

A steady dripping into my lap drew my attention before I could answer his question. I looked down at the pool of red in my lap. "You're hurt!"

Embry, the strongest, bravest man I knew with the biggest heart of anyone that I had ever met, looked at me with hooded eyes. And slumped down against my shoulder.


	43. Chapter XLII

**Author's Note: Okay, I think I'm all caught up on all my stories now. I'm really sorry. Here we go!**

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**Chapter XLII**

"Embry!" I screamed.

"Sh, I'm okay love," he promised. "I just need a little rest." I cupped his face in my hands and held it up. "I'm okay," he said again. I couldn't bring myself to believe him. Not with the small puddle of blood gathering in my lap.

"You can tell me you're okay when you're not bleeding," I snapped. "What happened to you?" I tucked his head against my shoulder and let him rest there for a minute. His eyes were drifting closed again. I look over his head at Paul, but he didn't seem all that concerned. I guess I could calm down a little if Paul wasn't scared. "Embry, what happened?"

"Let's get him back to the house."

"But he's bleeding," I shouted.

"We're quick to heal."

"Yeah, Penn, it's already better than it was," Embry cut in. His eyes were still closed, but his voice sounded a little stronger than it had when he'd first gotten to the little cave. It was _better_? He thought that this was _better_? How bad had it been at the very beginning? "Paul, help me get home. I'll be fine, Penn. You'll see." Paul hooked an arm underneath Embry's arm and hauled him up to his feet. I kept hold of the am that was closest to me, bringing it over my shoulders and trying to get him to rest on me. For once, he did as I was wordlessly asking.

I struggled to keep him _and_ me upright. In fact, it only took a few minutes for the roles to switch. Regardless of how much he was bleeding, Embry was suddenly the one holding me upright. "Are you going to tell me what happened to her?" he growled with a backwards glance towards Paul. I rested my head against his chest, listening to his heart beat just underneath my ear. He was struggling to keep his breath but I was more focused on his stomach. There, in the center of his abdomen was a slit that was only about three inches long. But it was deep. I could see, just from the blood that was running red down his tan skin, that it was deep.

"She was bleeding when she got to us," Paul said, his hands held up in surrender. "I picked her up the minute that I phased out."

"I was running, Embry. I was trying to do what you said," I muttered. "You said to run." He groaned and shook his head, resting his cheek on the top of my hair. "I was just trying to run and get you help. I think I tore my stitches."

"Let me get you," he said, stooping down to pick me up.

"Embry!" I protested. "You're stomach."

He held me away from his body a little. "I'm all healed, sweetheart. See?" I looked down to see that there was no slit in his stomach but it could be because the blood had covered everything on his belly. I reached down and traced where the line had been, but there was nothing there. "See? Everything is okay." Just because it had healed didn't mean that his blood loss wasn't effecting him. His normally warm, tanned skin was slightly ashen. If anyone needed to go to bed, it was him. "Let's go home, okay?"

"Where are the men?" I asked him. I tried to twist and turn my head so that I could see around me, but it did me no good. Embry held fast and prevented me from moving. I could see regret in his eyes, but he smiled at me nonetheless. "Embry, what happened to those men?" He looked away from me, pretending like he was focused on what could be lying on the path. "You better answer me, Embry Call!"

"It was an accident," he said. "I'll explain it to you when we get home, okay? Can you just be patient for that long?" No, probably not. But I would keep my mouth shut long enough to get us home. The last thing that Embry needed was someone pestering him while he was on the mend. The gray tint to his skin really didn't sit well with me. I rested my head against his shoulder and let my eyes drift closed. "I think she's asleep," he said a little while later. "Her heartbeat's slowed down."

"She's probably going into shock. You should have heard her stuttering," Paul said. It probably didn't matter if I was awake or not. I knew that I sounded stupid when I was talking to him. "She's a stubborn thing though."

"No more than Charlie, I suppose," he replied, but I could hear the doubt and affection in his voice. Was that what it was supposed to sound like when you loved someone? Even when they did something stupid? Even when they were reckless and almost ended their lives? Did you love them even then?

"Way more than Charlotte. Lotte would have sat in that cave with whoever was with her. She wouldn't have said anything. And she most certainly wouldn't have argued," he said with a laugh.

"Penn argued with you?"

"You don't sound too surprised," Paul replied. "She kept telling me that you needed help. She told me that I should go. Told me that she'd stay in the cave and wait for someone to come and get her," he elaborated. "I explained that our imprints are the most important things in the world to us." There was a jostling around me and a slight jarring.

"I know you're awake, love," Embry muttered in my ear. "I'm going to sit you up and carry you a little differently, okay?" Whatever would be easier for him. I nodded against his chest. "Hold up here, Paul." We came to a stop and Embry lifted me like I weigh seven pounds instead of a hundred and seventy. My head came to rest on his shoulder, his hands underneath my thighs. I twined my arms around his neck and pressed my lips against his neck, feeling his pulse underneath my mouth. "We're almost home."

Which was good because I had a few questions for him. He was being too secretive. Something wasn't right. "Em, you need to get in bed," Paul said. "Give yourself a few hours to recuperate. Cuddle your girl, get her bleeding under control." Embry nodded, his muscles flexing beneath my nose. "Lotte will probably come down to check on you guys in the morning." He nodded again and slid an arm underneath my butt so that he could carry me with one hand.

"We're home." I looked up lazily from his neck. "Do you want a shower?" He sat me down on the bed and tilted my chin up.

"I want you to tell me what happened," I said. His hand slid down my leg to my boots and gently slid them from my feet.

"We fought. They got a few good swipes at me and some at Seth. We got out and ran them to the cliffs. We were just trying to get them away from you and the other imprints. They didn't need to find some innocent person that was hiding in a bush somewhere. And it was him or Seth, Penn. I didn't want to." He stopped getting me ready for bed and came to rest next to me. "I didn't want to. And it was an accident. I tried to get him, but by the time I'd pulled Seth back he'd already gone. Jared went in the water after him, but we couldn't find him."

"Couldn't find _who_?" I asked him. He bit his bottom lip nervously, like he felt guilty for something. "Embry, what happened?"

"Your dad," he said. "He tried to stab Seth, a good one that would have killed him. And it came down to him or Seth; I had to protect my Pack. I pulled Seth away from him, but your dad didn't have any balance. He went right over the edge before I could grab him. He's dead Penn; I killed him."

My father is dead. He - - he couldn't come back and get me. I was free. And not just until he found me three years from now. He was gone for good. No one would ever know that it had been the wolves that had gotten him He would just like a drunken worthless sod that had gone toppling over the edge. And that was if anyone even noticed that he was gone. "I'm so sorry, love," he said. "I didn't want to him to kill you. I didn't mean to kill him." He thought that I was upset that my father was dead?

I threw my arms around him and hugged him tight to my chest. "Thank you Embry!" I said. "Thank you so much." He made sure that I would never be hurt again.

He jerked back. "Thank you? I killed him, Penn," he shouted in my face.

"You didn't," I said. "He killed himself, Embry. He drank himself to the end. If it hadn't been you, it would have just been himself. It was ann accident. You're no more responsible for it than I am."

"But I wanted to," He muttered. "I wanted to kill him, Penn. I wanted to rip him limb from limb until there was nothing left of him. That's just as bad as killing him." I wouldn't have been mad at him either way. So I didn't see why I mattered if he killed my father or if it was an accident. "He hurt you, Penn. He hurt you so much, I don't even know how to handle it." Did he think that it was going to bother me if he wasn't always okay with my past?

"Embry, it's okay if you're not okay with my history. I'll understand if you want to walk away." I would, too. No matter how much it hurt me, I would understand. "You don't have to pretend for my sake."

"Pretend what?"

"That it doesn't bother you that I'm nothing," I said.

"Penelope." The name hit me like a ton of bricks, but there was no fear there. His hands cupped my cheeks and held me with a gentle fierceness I didn't know existed. "Don't you ever let me hear you say that you're nothing again. Do you understand me?" I nodded deftly. "You are everything. You are a woman that is kind and warm and gentle despite all of the trust issues that you have. Despite your past, Penn, you have a better heart than most people."

"But those men -"

"Hurt you. That's what bothers me, Penn." I stared at him with confusion. "It doesn't bother me that you were a little girl who was taken advantage of. It doesn't bother me that you have a hard heart. It bothers me that anyone thought it was okay to hurt you." He pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead. "You're not nothing. If you were, I wouldn't be able to love you. And I do, Penn. I love you with everything in my heart."

I opened my mouth to tell him that I couldn't say it back. I knew that I loved him, but I couldn't say it. I just couldn't. The last person that I had said those three words to had robbed me of a childhood. "You don't have to say it back, Penn. I don't expect you to. But I want you to know that I love you. I want you to know that I'm not going to leave you for anything." That was something that I wanted desperately to believe. He stared at me for a long moment. "Let's get some sleep. Both of us are tired." He kissed my lips then.

He laid me down and tucked me into his side like he had been when he found me. It dawned on me that he hadn't showered and there was blood now drying on his stomach. I opened my mouth to tell him, but he interrupted me with a snore. "Embry?" I whispered. I got nothing in response. I bit my lip and called again. But he still didn't answer. "I love you, too."


	44. Chapter XLIII

**Author's Note: Here you guys are! Enjoy!**

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**Chapter XLIII**

My rock was sliding away from me, moving out of reach. I whimpered, clutched at the fleshy stone and pried my eyes open. "I didn't know that you were awake, love," he said. I sighed as I realized that Embry was my boulder. "How are you feeling?" I stared at him, trying to process his words through my grogginess. "Do I need to send for Carlisle?" I shook my head and tried to clear my throat. "Are you going to say something?" There was a chuckle in his voice, but no humor in his beautiful eyes.

"No," I croaked. "I mean, yes, I'll say something." He pulled me tight to his chest and pressed a kiss to my forehead. "My dad's dead, huh?" He stiffened like he thought that was suddenly angry at him. But he nodded at me. "Maybe now the nightmares will stop." His thumbs found my jawline and gently stroked it. "Thank you for protecting me, Embry." That seemed to get rid of the last of his reservations. I was lying on top of him with my forehead resting against his an instant later.

"I will always protect you, Penn." The quiet voice rang with power, a vow that he would never break. "Come hell or high water you will be safe." I leaned down and kissed him, ignoring the stinging that resulted from his hands on my hip. His thumb barely brushed over the top of the cut, but it hurt nonetheless. I threaded my fingers through his hair and pulled him closer. He growled, sounding more like a dog than I have ever heard before. But he didn't sound threatening. He sounded like he couldn't draw the line between wolf and man this time. I felt his tongue slide into my mouth and wrap around my own. My eyes flew open and a startled gasp escaped my mouth. He pulled back, holding me away from him. "Good?"

"Very good," I muttered before I pulled him back to me. He chuckled against my mouth but continued to kiss me. I couldn't believe him sometimes. I had never known a man that would actually stop and _check_ to make sure that I was okay with what we were doing. All the men that I had met lost themselves in their fog of lust. It didn't matter what I felt about things. They didn't care. But Embry did.

All of the sudden, Embry pulled away from me. He kept me about half a foot away. He breathed deeply, like he couldn't quite get a lungful of air. "Sorry; I wasn't planning on doing that when I kissed you."

"I didn't mind," I admitted, trying to keep myself from blushing. I had changed so much in the few months that I had known him.

"Good God, Penn, that is not the thing to say to someone who's trying to keep himself in check," he laughed. Once again, however, there was nothing but seriousness in his eyes. He really meant it. He was trying to keep himself in check with_ me, _with a girl who was literally stripped. This is what I was so scared of. I was afraid of falling for him, but I was terrified of letting myself believe that he loved me. But how could I not? With him lying underneath me, panting for air, and acting like I was the most precious thing in the world. I would have to be completely stupid not to believe him. "What's going on in that head?"

He was still holding me aloft, keeping me from touching him with more than just my palms. "You love me." It was a simple statement and he'd said it the night before. But I couldn't deny the fact that he meant it. It was shining in his eyes. The serious shell that was there dropped away instantly until he was staring at me without a guard. "You've meant it all this time."

"For a girl who was smart enough to figure out how to live alone, you've been really thick," he said with those same smoldering eyes.

"But, but," I tried to come with a rational argument, but my brain was spinning. Embry Call really loved me. "But we've only known each other for three months." There. That would have to silence him. It was too soon for him to love me.

"So I don't get to know that I love you?" I nodded. "But you love me; how's that fair?" My heart sank low in my chest. I shook my head, trying not to lie to him but still wanting to deny what he was saying. "I heard you, Penn. You can't get out of this." The problem was that I didn't _want _out of this.

"You were asleep," I protested. "You were snoring." He laughed, lowered me back to his chest, captured the back of my head and kissed me until I couldn't think straight. My brain was spiraling out of control. I couldn't hear anything but his heartbeat and maybe mine. I don't know; it was pounding in my ears. Behind my eyes I could see Embry and me, sitting on the front porch of his mother's house, drinking tea after dinner like we had the other night. Or at least, we would have if I hadn't fallen asleep. I could see a little boy running around that looked exactly like Embry with my frizzy, wavy hair.

Embry pulled away and cautiously rolled us so that I was underneath him. "How else was I supposed to get you to tell me what you were feeling?" he said. I shook my head, still baffled. He'd tricked me into telling him that I loved him. The rascal. "The honest truth Penn?"

"Do I ever want anything less?"

"I've been pretending to fall asleep before you every night for a month now. Every night since I knew that I loved you," he said. His cheeks were red, making him look like a little boy instead of a very attractive young man that was lying in my bed half naked. No need to distract myself from the task at hand. I was angry at him. "I wanted you to say it. The last thing that I've ever wanted to do was push you, love. That's why I was waiting like that."

"Now it won't matter what I say," I muttered to myself. "You already know it."

"It's kind of like when you were telling the wolf side of me things, though. You told me when you thought that I was asleep. I'm not going to push you or ask you to say it now. And as for your argument that we've only known each other for three months, people get married after three months."

"Not smart people!" He laughed at me and kissed the tip of my nose. "You should shower. All that blood is probably dried all over the bed now."

"We'll change the sheet after we're both clean," he replied. He leaned down again and stopped a few centimeters from my lips, like he was making sure that he was still welcome. When I didn't pull back or say anything, he kissed me. "You don't ever have to say it," he said a few minutes later. "I'm sorry if you're mad that I pretended to be asleep. But you're not the only one who deals with insecurities." He kissed my forehead and bounced off the bed. "I'm going to shower," he added quickly, dashing from the room before I could tease him for his words.

What was I so mad about? Why was it such a big deal? I would have done the same if the situation was reversed. I guess I wasn't so mad about him tricking me as I was about him knowing that I loved him. He was a sacrificial type. I knew that about him. And now that he knew that I was unwillingly invested in this weird relationship, he would never walk away. He would sacrifice his happiness for my own.

But at the same time, there was denying that he loved me. I saw it in his eyes. I felt it in his hold. I heard it in his words. "It's only going to last so long," I whispered to myself. "And now that he knows how stupid I am, I'll never know when that day comes around. He'll want to leave one day," I reminded myself.

"I sincerely hope you're not talking about me." I jumped, startled by his voice. "I just needed to get the blood off of me. You really don't think I'm going to leave, do you?" I just shrugged. He groaned and jumped onto the bed, bouncing into place next to me. "I don't know how else to prove to you that I'm not going anywhere, Penn. Will you just tell me _how_ to show you?"

"I can't have kids," I blurted. There. That was the mast major secret that I held inside. "So the spirits must have been wrong, because I can't imagine a man that would be a better father than you, Embry."

"Good," he said instead of pushing me away.

"It's a good thing that I can't have kids?"

He shrugged. "I wouldn't necessarily say that it's a _good_ thing but I know that I love you with every fiber of my being. I don't think I could love a child _and_ you. And we certainly wouldn't want to make a baby feel unloved. Both of us know that feeling." I could feel my lower lip trembling while he spoke. He was serious. He _wanted_ me.

I wanted to tell him what was in my heart, what I was feeling. But when I opened my mouth to tell him, I just burst into tears.


	45. Chapter XLIV

**Author's Note: Okay, everyone. Here's the next chapter. Saturday's chapters might be up a little late. I have overtime shifts in the morning and then a tattoo sitting in the evening, so we'll just play it by ear. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter XLIV:****_ Embry's Point of View_**

"Your daughter is Penelope?" The fact that it _could_ be the man that had tortured her for so long had me on edge. II was praying that it wasn't him. I couldn't be held responsible for my actions if it was. "Penelope Rivers. That's your daughter?"

"They said that I could find her here," he slurred, gesturing behind him to the house. I growled. He couldn't find her ever. "Do you know where she is? Or are you just wasting my time?"

"Embry," she breathed in her sleep. I hushed her and tightened my hold on her. I lifted the jacket enough to look at her; she was frowning a little, but didn't seem disturbed otherwise.

"Is that her? Penelope, honey," he said. I growled and began shaking. If someone had said that word like that to me, I would freak out too. No wonder she had such bad memories of of her father. His voice made my skin crawl. The man, who looked nothing like her, stepped forward and reached out. I stood stark still, staying rigid so that I could control my temper. In my stillness, though, he had managed to get close enough to pull the coat back from her face.

I jumped back, clutching her closer. "Try to touch her again and I'll rip your hand off," I screamed. I hadn't meant for it to come out so loud. Penn jumped in my arms. "And I guarantee you I'm just looking for a reason." She frowned at me, but her eyes were still shut. I flipped the little jacket over her eyes again.

"Embry?" I clutched her closer. "What's wrong?"

"Sh, love." Her father didn't need a reason to get to her. "Just wait a few more minutes." I could feel her distress though. She wasn't listening to me. "I won't let him hurt you," I said. She must have figured out what he was here. She looked like she was still trying to figure it out.

"I have a right to be with her." She stiffened. Her heart skipped a beat. She hadn't known he was here. She had just known that something was off. I'd given it all away. And then he'd spoken. "I'm her father," he managed.

"You were her pimp," I said cruelly. She shook hard in my arms and then her arms found my neck. She clutched herself to me, clambering to get away from her father. "No one wants you here."

"I'm her father." Was that supposed to change my feelings about this? "It doesn't matter what the court says." So he wasn't so delusional that he'd forgotten what his daughter had done to get away with him.

"You're right, the court can't say that you're not her father. But I can," I said. I shouldered my way beyond her father into the house. "You sit right here, love." Where I could protect her.

"Embry," she whimpered. She had nothing to worry about. I was going to protect her. "Don't do anything that's going to get you in trouble, Em."

"I'll be right back," I said automatically. Her father wouldn't even have time to get her.

"Let me come with you."

"And do what, Penn?" What did she think she was going to do with me?

"Just don't leave me in here, Embry." She was desperate for me to be closer to her. She was afraid, more terrified than I had ever seen her. "I'll stay behind you." How could I tell her no? She wanted so desperately to stay close to me. She was afraid of everything. How could I tell her that she was only going to get in the way? I was expecting trouble. I couldn't protect her while fending off her father.

"You stay behind me and you go inside the second that he gets within three feet of you," I said a little harsher than I meant to. She nodded and stood, wrapping her fingers around the back of my shirt and pressing her nose against my spine. Her father was pacing back and forth in the front yard, waiting for her to come back out.

"Penelope," he breathed. I growled. "It's so good to see you, sugar." She tightened her grip on my shirt. I felt the bone of her chin digging into my shoulder so that she could still see, but she would be completely concealed. The Penn that would have fought against everyone and everything was gone. She had reverted to the scared little girl who knew that she could hide to escape the wrath of her father. "Are you scared of me, sugar? I'm your daddy." I wondered how many times she had heard that statement in her life. What did those words mean to her?

The way her heart was hammering in her chest, I assumed that they meant terror. She swallowed hard, the spit in her mouth clearly struggling to make it passed the lump in her throat. She made a small gagging noise in her throat. Her hands took a strangle hold on my shirt and kept me in front of her. Terrified was an understatement. Her fear was just the reminder I needed of all that she had gone through. I had promised myself that if I ever came face to face with him, I would rip him apart. "Embry, stop," she whispered. I hadn't even realized that I was trembling, that I was all too close to phasing with her right there behind me. "You're right here, Em. He can't hurt me."

The only good thing that seemed to come out of this was the fact that she had learned to trust me. "I wouldn't hurt you, sugar pie." No wonder she was so particular about her desired terms of endearment. "I'm your father. I'm here to protect you."

Protect her! He had done the most heinous things to her and he was going to sit here claiming that he wanted to protect her? No; he'd never done it before and I don't think that he could now. He had ruined her life before. I wouldn't let him do it again. Never again. "You didn't protect me when I was little," she managed. "You sold me." Her nails dug into my flesh, but I don't think she realized. "I was a child and you sold me." She dropped down to her flat feet and stiffly moved herself more to my side. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

Men began moving in from the tree line. I was trying to listen to the conversation around me, but I was far too busy tallying up the number of guys. Even when Penn asked me to take a closer look it didn't matter. All it meant was that she'd seen it too. "Get in the house," I murmured through clenched teeth.

"I can't leave you out here." I didn't tell her that she would be a hindrance instead of a help.

"And I can't let them hurt the girl I love," I said instead. "Get in the house."

"No." God bless it! Did the girl not understand what her stubbornness was going to cost her? It wouldn't be some anger this time. It would be her life. And I couldn't let her die. "I'm not going."

"Your dead daddy has fallen on hard times, sugar plum." I was pretty sure I was going to vomit into the grass. "I'm afraid I'm going to need your help pulling myself out of this rut again."

"Get out of here." She had done it. She had separated her childhood from her present. She had her backbone. She even had the gumption to step forward and try to get at him. I pulled her back to me. I wouldn't dare trust the man. "No one wants you here. I'm emancipated. You can't get a hold of me."

"We'll see about that." The men that were approaching were all reaching in their pockets, pulling out knives. I knew from experience that the blade could pierce my skin. I could handle everything if I didn't have my imprint in front of me. With her there, I had to make her my primary concern. The backbone that she'd had gave way and she slumped into my arms. I held her up, I held her tight. "They're going to jump, Penn." I could practically see their muscles tensing, prepared to spring. "But they're afraid. Especially Ken." I should have gotten her out of that club earlier. She shouldn't have been working for a man that was involved with her father. "I can smell it." And it brought me a perverse sense of pleasure. "You have to run love."

She had a look on her face that made her colder than any vampire. "I won't leave you here with them." Why did I have to love such a stubborn little girl? "It's me they want, Embry. Go." The thought of leaving her in the forest made me want to vomit and phase at the same time.

"If you think I'm going to leave you in the middle of the forest with these monsters, Penn, then I haven't done a good enough job of convincing you." I would never leave her on her own out here. I would never leave her again. "I can't fight them while you're here." And there were far too many around me for me to do it alone. "And I can't fight them on my own." I vaguely remember giving her instructions about what to do, but I couldn't recall what. I was too focused on the men when they leapt.

I launched Penn a few feet and begged her to keep going. "Run, Penn!" And stay safe. I had to keep her safe. No matter the costs.


	46. Chapter XLV

**Author's Note: Okay, everyone, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

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**Chapter XLV:_ Embry's Point of View_**

As soon as I couldn't see Penn through the trees and leaves, I threw the men off of me and sprinted towards the deeper forest. I needed to get them away from my imprint, away from anywhere that could have people hiding in it. "After him. Don't let him get away. I know the girl; she'll only come after him later. Damned kid is loyal to a fault," Ken shouted. I dashed only far enough to drop my phone where it wouldn't get shattered or trampled and allowed myself to be consumed by anger. Finger ate at my lungs and heart. All I could think about was my imprint and what these men, these scumbags had done to her. What her father had done to her.

Before I even knew what was going on, I was running on four paws. I could hear my brothers, see what they were seeing. I was connected to them. And through them, to my imprint. _You're letting her run in the forest alone?_ Seth asked me. _"Please, he's being attacked,"_ I could hear Penn pleading with Seth, though se didn't know it was him. She'd met most of the guys, but never seen anyone else in wolf form. _"Paul!"_

_She recognizes me? How does she recognize me? Embry, why is she in here?_

_"Paul, please my father is back. You have to help him."_ There was a desperation to her voice that tugged on my heart and made me want to protect her all the more at the same time. I needed to take care of her her. There wasn't anyone else to do the job. _What are you doing to her father?_ Paul's voice was bored, like he was exasperated that he was being a part of this.

_You don't know anything about her childhood and I'm not going to be the one to enlighten you,_ I snarled. _Her father is evil. Paul, stay with her. She trusts you to some extent. Seth, I need you._ I showed them just a glimpse of the men, each of them growling at me and holding a knife. Seth nodded and sprinted towards me and the men that were after me.

I dipped into the forest again with every intention of finding a pair of shorts and phasing human again. Her father needed to know exactly who it was that would win. This was my imprint that he was trying to get at. He was trying to ruin her again, to take away the life that I'd been working so hard to bring out in her. I turned around again to see Seth leaping over a few men to come and stand next to me. "You have no idea who you're messing with here," I said with a snarl. "Leave Penn alone."

"No court mandate can keep me from the money that my daughter brings in. She has a job to do." I growled ad Seth crouched down, prepared to leap at the men. "She has an obligation."

"Is that the same obligation that you had to protect her?" I growled. Seth's one large eye looked at me with confusion, but he didn't linger very long. He was more interested in that small battle at hand.

"You think she ever quit?" Ken stepped forward and I jerked towards him. He flinched when he saw me and Seth, hiding himself behind her father again.

"Ken's right; even after I left she became nothing. She's no better than her mama. She's a whore, kid. That's all she'll ever be," he laughed. His comment had even Seth on edge, testing the limits of the young wolf's control. Penn was his Pack sister after all. But she was my imprint. I launched myself at the man that dare call my imprint such terrible names, but in the instant before I hit him, he pulled his knife in front of him to defend himself. The blade dug deep into my abdomen and I couldn't help but cry out. I may be more than human, but I wasn't immortal. I wasn't unbreakable.

A man behind her father leapt forward and managed to get his arm around my neck. The knife was pulled from my stomach. I sighed, trying to swallow the scream. He managed a few more slashes on my arms before he tossed me aside like I was nothing more than a stepping stone. I laid there for a second, giving the accelerated healing a moment to kick in. I just need enough time to be able to stand up. Seth yelped as someone's knife hit his leg, but he wouldn't retaliate. We were supposed to protect humans. Someone as evil as him could hardly be considered human in my opinion, but that didn't change the fact that we couldn't kill him.

Another one of the men noticed me trying to stand up, but I only made it a few feet before he kicked me in the gut and managed to get in another slice on my skin. Seth kept backing towards the cliff, trying to get away from them while leading them farther away from civilization. "I've heard about your little guard dogs," her father said with a pointed look at Ken. The coward actually shrank into his skin a little more. "Best get rid of him now, wouldn't you agree?" He staggered towards Seth again, but the kid didn't back down.

Metal was glinting in the moonlight as they tried to get closer to Seth. A couple of men were ordered to stand and watch me. The minor cuts that I had on my arms were already healed. The one in my stomach didn't feel any better, but it would have to do for now. At least, until I could get us somewhere safe. Seth yipped at me, asking me what he was supposed to do. I couldn't answer him. I didn't know what to do myself.

I shoved the two guys that were guarding me away, listening to their heads thud against the tree trunks that they hit. Sprinting towards Seth, I barely had a moment to pray that he would be unharmed. I grabbed hold of the other men that were close by and tossed them away from Seth. My mind registered the fact that I was throwing them towards the innocent people of La Push, but with the force of my throws, I doubted they would still be conscious. "Coming here little doggy," he slurred.

The claws of Seth's back feet were playing with the edge of the cliffs that we were at. I couldn't kill him. I just couldn't. He was still human, the lowest class of human that could possibly exist, but human all the same. "Seth!" I shouted, but I wasn't close enough. Penn's father managed a few slices on Seth's arm and shoulders. I shoved her father closer to Seth and reached around to grab the little wolf by the scruff of his neck and hauling him away. Once I was sure that he was out of harm's way, I turned back.

It had only been a second or two, but by the time that I was facing the man again, he was teetering on the edge. "No!" I screamed. He was clambering, trying to get his balance once again. I scrambled off the ground towards him, reaching with desperation for his arm, his hands, his fingers. Any part of him that I could hold to keep him from going over the side. But it was all too late. With a scream, he fell back over the edge. The only parent that Penn had really known, regardless of how terrible he was, was dead now. I had killed him. I hadn't protected him. I had failed.

Seth's hand slapped down on my shoulder, human and unharmed. "You should go find her. She was really worried about you," he said. His fingers squeezed my muscles in comfort. I pulled the shorts from my body and tied them to my ankle, phasing and searching for my imprint's scent among everything else in the forest. Finding her, I dodged trees and jumped over fallen branches until I got to the cave. Penn was resting her cheek against Paul's shoulder, trusting him just a little bit more. "You're okay," I managed. I sniffed the air again, letting her scent calm me.

Until it became mixed with the metallic smell of iron. Blood? Why would there be blood? Paul? "Is that - - Does that smell like blood?" Paul nodded behind her. "Are you _bleeding_?" Had one of them gotten to her? She hadn't looked hurt earlier when I'd seen her through the eyes of Seth and Paul. I grabbed her face in my hands, looking to see what was causing her pain. "What hurts, love?" I demanded. I wanted nothing more than to sniff out the blood. "Are you hurt?" She didn't seem to be reacting. She looked up at me and then down at the denim fabric of her jeans.

"You're hurt!" she snapped at me. If she was more concerned about me, then she must not be too heart. I leaned down to rest my forehead against her shoulder with a sigh. She was okay. Now the problem was that I had killed her father. I could deal with that later. For the moment, I was content to just sit here and let her hold on to me.


	47. Chapter XLVI

**Author's Note: I hope you all have been enjoying the last couple of chapters. I know that it's been slow, but I'm working on another chapter for this story that I want to get just right. Enjoy!**

**Chapter XLVI**

"You don't have to go," Embry was saying the next morning. We'd had a lazy day after I'd realized that he did, in fact love me. I couldn't believe that someone like Embry could want me. Even after I let go of my most guarded secret and told him about the things that my father had paid some man to do to me, he didn't seem at all upset. I started crying and all he'd done was pull me into his chest. There were no words of remorse or promise that we could make it work. Instead, he just told me that he loved me and held me the whole time. Now, after a relaxing day of ice cream and lots of sleep, Embry had me cuddled to his chest and was talking about some Pack bonfire. "I mean,_ we_ don't have to go."

"Why wouldn't we go? Everyone is going to be there; you said so yourself."

"But that doesn't mean that _we_ have to go."

"What aren't you telling me?" He sighed heavily and chaffed his hand against my arm.

"The guys are all going to be there. And when we have bonfires, they tend to get a little intense. I don't want it to bring up any bad memories for you. They get stupid and loud and say things that they probably shouldn't," he muttered. "I don't want you to feel uncomfortable. These people are my family. The last thing I want is for you not to be yourself around them."

"But Charlie will be there."

"Charlie doesn't have the same history that you do. And after everything that happened with her and her father, Paul will barely be letting her out of his sight," he replied. "I know that you have problems with large groups of men, love. And that's what we are. We are a whole bunch of guys that are going to get together and scream at each other for a few hours."

"But you'll be there with me, right?"

"Of course." I frowned. Why should it matter what there was if he was going to be right there? He had already protected me from the biggest demon that I knew: my father. He had taken care of the most evil creatures on Earth. Why should it mater if his friends were a little rowdy?

"Then it's not such a big deal, is it? I mean, if you're going to be right there and you promise that you won't let me get hurt, then I don't see why there's a problem," I replied.

"I'll stick to you like glue," he smiled. I beamed back at him and let him pull me tighter against his chest. "If we're going to go, then we should get ready. Dinner's a sundown." I pushed myself away from him, which was harder than I would have liked. He smacked my butt lightly when I turned around. I smiled at him and sauntered off to the bathroom. It wouldn't be so bad to meet all of his friends. I knew most of them. But I had never been around them all at once. I was certain that they were all very kind and would treat me well. But I knew that the second someone started screaming, I would end up cowering into the sand.

I showered, not bothering to straighten my hair. It was only Embry's friends that would be there. They weren't paying clients. And if Embry had anything to say about, I would never being stripping again. I wasn't opposed to it. Besides, he'd found me a job that paid better than anything that I could ever imagine. I looked at myself naked in the mirror while deciding what to wear. There were so many scars, so many cuts, so many things that I could hide. But I didn't want to. These were all of the things that made me and I wasn't going to pretend that I was something that I wasn't. Not anymore.

I reached for my brush and tried to pull it through my hair like I had always been able to do. I just wanted to be fully healed again so that I could do everything again. "Here, I'll help you." His deep voice stopped startling me after he'd lived with me for a few days. His steps thudded across the floor as he neared. He reached over my shoulder and grasped the end of the brush. His fingers dug into my scalp and gently massaged the skin there. My head fell back against his chest of its own accord. "You know, it's kind of hard to brush your hair when it's right against my stomach," he laughed.

"Sorry," I whispered. It just felt so good. I blinked hard and forced myself to sit upright again. Embry, still chuckling, drew the brush through the beach-waves that girls spent so much money to get. The same ones that I tried so hard to get rid of. I let my eyes drift closed while he worked. "I don't suppose you feel like pulling it back in a ponytail, do you?" I teased. His fingers rubbed against my skin again while he pulled all my hair back and tied it off with my elastic band. "I was only kidding."

He shrugged behind me. "I don't mind, love," he said. His hands wrapped around my shoulders and gently pulled me back to his belly. "We really don't have to go to the bonfire if you don't want to."

"Do you not want to?" I asked. I blinked, my eyelids feeling heavy.

"No, I enjoy the bonfires. But you look tired and I don't like when you wear yourself out," he replied.

"I've never been invited to the bonfires. They're always for the council and Sam's little groupies," I said. "I guess I'm one of Sam's little groupies now, huh?" He chuckled. "I want to go. I have no guarantee that I'm going to be awake the entire night, but I really do want to go."

"Okay," he said. The walk to the beach was long. It kind of hurt, my bare feet sinking down in the sand and forcing me to find a balance. Despite the fact that I told my body to keep my mouth shut, a moan managed to escape along with a grimace. "Why didn't you say something?" he demanded. I was in his arms before I could tell him that I was totally fine. "Here we are," he said a few moments later. He deposited me on a log, right alongside Jared and Kim.

"What's up?" Jared asked, shaking a nod towards me in order to say hello. Embry settled next to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me tight to his side. Everyone else that I knew started arriving and finding their own spots. I was fine... until a few of them started a very loud, slamming game of tackle football. I knew one of them was Seth, but the other two were only freshmen. Or, I guess, they were sophomores now. The shouting began to drown out the sound of chatter around me.

"Hey." Embry's quiet whisper broke through everything else and grabbed my attention. "You're okay. They're not going to hurt you." I took a deep breath to calm my pounding heart. "I'm right here. I won't let anything hurt you." I nodded, but let my spine turn to gum. I sank into his side and let him constrict his hold. The couples that were there were all being loving, kissing each other and holding each other close. I looked up at Embry, but he wasn't paying attention to me.

No; he let out a loud wolf whistle that had Ryanne and Jacob popping apart. Ryanne blushed bright red and tried to bury her face in Jake's shoulder. Embry began calling at her, barking like a dog. I laughed along with everyone else, but couldn't help but feel bad. I wouldn't want to be called out like that. The pair exchanged a few words, but it was all too low for me to hear. "Yeah well make it enough," Em screamed, tossing a rock at them. "Some of us would like to eat our food and get this thing going." Ryanne turned to glare at him, but he smiled at her. I just wanted the ground to swallow me up. All the other girls could take care of their wolves, their men, and stop them from doing something stupid. I couldn't even keep him from saying something stupid.

Then everyone was standing up. All the men, at least. They were heading over to some area that seemed to have a few lines drawn in it. The guys bent down and kissed their respective partners' cheeks. Even Nate left. But Embry didn't. He kept right next to me as all of his friends left. I sighed and looked at the girls. They weren't menacing. Most of them were even signing for Charlie. "Go on," I said, nudging him towards the rest of the guys. "I'll hang out here with the girls."

I said the words, but even as he stood to walk away, I kept a hand on his forearm. I felt like I was being fed to the wolves.


	48. Chapter XLVII

**Author's Note: Okay, here's today's chapter. I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter XLVII**

Ryanne came sauntering towards me with a polite smile on her face. I knew that she was just trying to be kind, but I couldn't make the fear go away. "Hey, it's uh, Penn, right?" she asked. I just nodded because I knew if I opened my mouth, I would inform her that we had gone to the same school for years and he should know my name by now. "I'm Ryanne Swan." I knew that. Embry gave me a disapproving cough of his throat as if he'd heard my thoughts. With a gentle push on the small of my back, I was forced to let go of him. I took the step away from him and marched towards the rest of the girls.

I watched him walk towards his friends with a smile. He deserved to be enjoying himself, especially after the shit storm that my father created for us. "You're the one who fights MMA, right?" I asked, trying to be nice. She nodded, but her eyes lit up like she was excited to get to talk about what she loved. "Does that gym you go to give lessons?"

"No," she said, genuine regret in her eyes. I shouldn't have been surprised though. Most gyms wanted members, not students. "I could talk to Frank, though. He's the owner. I'm sure he'd be willing if you're interested. You looking to complete?"

"Just self defense stuff." I only knew a quick and run technique. It was about time that I learned something better.

"Frank's really big on all that kind of stuff. I'll let Embry know what he says," she replied. I nodded and moved to stand up a little straighter, barely managing to bite down the moan. "Maybe after you're fully healed." I nodded in agreement. There was no sense in lying about my condition. I was getting better, but some motions still hurt. "Come on." She led me to where all the girls were standing about, working on making their dinner.

I pulled together all the information that I had about Embry and managed to get his plate together. The women ate their own dinners first, since it was unlikely that there would be any food left over after the guys ate. I nibbled here and there, made a few short conversations. Charlie kept close to my side and laughed and signed with everyone. I guess the biggest surprise was the fact that I didn't feel like I was a complete outsider. I was actually enjoying myself. Leah and Ryanne had senses of humor that were closer to mine. They were a little cruel, but it was all in good fun.

After a little while, Ryanne walked to the edge of our little campsite, stuck two fingers in her mouth and let out a whistle that ripped through the sky. The boys all turned, looking just like the dogs they were. And then they were sprinting through the sand in a mad dash to see who could get there first. Embry was kicking up sand at all the other people that were behind him but as he neared, he slowed down. "How you doing?" he asked, not even out of breath. I nodded and smiled a little bit so that he would know I was fine. "That's my girl." It was a simple phrase and probably one that shouldn't have meant so much to me. But knowing that he was praising me, knowing that I had done something correctly and that I hadn't embarrassed him mean more to me that I could have imagined.

He tugged me into his side and kissed my forehead sweetly. "Let's find a place to eat. They're going to start telling the legends real soon," he said. I wasn't going to lie; I was excited for the legends. Normally, Charlie and I would sit as close as we could to the bonfire. I would listen and then try to sign to her while they spoke. But Paul had Charlie bundled close to his chest with his arms wrapped around her so that she could still see his hands. I didn't have to focus on what would come next or how I could interpret the words. Embry pulled me down into his chest and lap, wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing his chin on my shoulder.

Jake cleared his throat then, drawing everyone's attention. He wrapped his arms around Ryanne's stomach without apology and held her close as he spoke. I had heard the legends a million times, but I don't think I'd ever truly been listening before. Or maybe the stories just had more meaning now. "Alright," Jake said he'd finished the last one about the treaty with the Cullens. "We need to talk about this stuff with the Volturi."

I really tried to keep up with the conversation. I was trying to figure out what he was saying and what that would mean for Embry and the people that I was starting to consider friends. But the fire was blowing warm air on my face and Embry had me wrapped up tight in his arms. I couldn't just ignore how great it all felt. And it wasn't like I was really going to understand what they were talking about. So, in all truly, there was no real reason for me to try and stay awake. I shifted my position so that I wasn't sitting up so much. I drew my legs over his lap and rested them on the log beside me.

Embry acted like nothing had really changed. He moved himself more and drew my arms up around his neck. None of his friends said anything, which I found strange. A quick glance around, however, told me that it wasn't. All of the girls were wrapped up in the arms of a wolf. Even Leah, who was paying attention to the conversation and giving input, was snuggled against Nate's broad chest. So, perhaps to them, it was only natural that I was making myself more comfortable and falling asleep. I peeked up at Embry's eyes to see if he felt the same.

"Yeah, Jake," he said in response to what was asked. And then he looked down at me, his dark eyes smoldering like cinders. It was just as big a deal to him as it was to me. Still staring at me, he rubbed my arm up and down and began to slowly sway back and forth until I knew for a fact that I was falling asleep.

But it only felt like moments later that I was opening my eyes. "Come on, sleeping beauty, why don't you go take a shower," he was saying. I groaned. I was much to comfortable where I was. "You don't want our bed to smell like campfire, do you?" My groggy mind noticed that he called it our bed, despite the fact that we had never done anything but sleep in it. "Come on, love, open your eyes."

"Can't we just go to bed?" I asked him. "I'll wash the bed tomorrow."

"If that's what you want." He gently deposited me on the bed and kicked his own shoes off. His gentle, warm hands wrapped around my ankles and pried the shoes from my feet. "Did you have fun tonight, love?"

"More than I thought I would," I admitted. "I liked everyone."

"No one scared you?" he asked.

"Not intentionally." There was a moan that grew into a growl as he settled himself on _our_ bed. "It was fine, Embry. Everyone was good."

"I was worried about you, not everyone else," he replied. His fingers rubbed against the inside of my wrist, the soft skin prickling with goosebumps at the simple contact. "I know that large groups aren't always easy for you."

"But I know that you wouldn't let your friends hurt me," I said before he could continue to beat himself up.

"I wouldn't let _anything_ hurt you, Penn. I promise."

Holding the blanket aloft, I gently rolled on my side, absently thinking about the sand that I could feel in the bed. "I owe you an apology," I said. He wiggled his way closer to me, pressing a kiss on top of the place that he had just touched. "And before you stop me, I really think that I owe you this much." He groaned and swiveled his head around in a circle. "I'm sorry for the things that I said to you when we first met. All of the times that I said that I thought you were only around because you wanted to get in my pants and all that. I shouldn't have said those things to you and I'm really sorry."

He leaned in close and kissed my forehead. "You didn't know me back then, Penn. And what you did know about me wasn't all that good," he said. I let him kiss me and let myself get lost in him.

"Embry?" He hummed back at me. "I know that I accused you of wanting only one thing from me, but I just want to make sure that you know -"

"I'll wait as long as you want for anything, love. You never have to do anything that you don't want to." I bit my lip and looked up at hi, fighting the blush.

"What... What if I didn't want to wait?"


	49. Chapter XLVIII

**Author's Note: Just a warning that today's chapter is going to be a little bit more mature than the other chapters. If that's not your thing, you're not missing any important plot points by not reading. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter XLVIII:****_ Embry's Point of View_**

"I owe you an apology," she said as she turned to face me. I crawled closer to where she was lying and shifted my hold on her hand so that I could kiss the veins that ran purple on her wrist. "And before you stop me, I really think that I owe you this much." I rolled my head and couldn't resist the urge to moan. But I kept my mouth shut and let her continue. "I'm sorry for the things that I said to you when we first met. All of the times that I said that I thought you were only around because you wanted to get in my pants and all that. I shouldn't have said those things to you and I'm really sorry."

Staying silent through all of that may have been the hardest thing that I'd ever had to do. I pulled her to my chest, to the heart that was thundering against my ribs and kissed her forehead. "You didn't know me back then, Penn. And what you did know about me wasn't all that good." I had my own apology to give, but I was going to go about it in a different way. I cupped her head in the back of my hand and pressed my lips against hers. She kissed me back, sweeter than anything that had ever known. Her mouth was soft, pliant against mine. She moaned and shivered and wrapped her arms around my neck to hold herself to me.

Finally, I pulled away, knowing that she was to need to breathe. "Embry?"

"Hmm?" I was perfectly content to lie there and fall asleep holding her to my chest. "I know that I accused you of wanting only one thing from me, but I just want to make sure that you know -"

"I'll wait as long as you want for anything, love," I cut in. "You never have to do anything that you don't want to." I would never be anything like those monsters that had taken advantage of her for so long. I would wait a lifetime for her to decide what she wanted.

That beautiful rust colored lip was gently tucked between her white teeth. Her lip was quivering just a little bit when she finally met my gaze. "What - - what if I didn't want to wait?" I just stared at her, my brain still trying to figure out what she was say. She didn't want to wait for... for what? The arms that were wrapped around my neck squeezed a little. Her fingers dug into my hair and drew me up against her. In the darkness of the night, she couldn't see me completely. She kissed around my face until she finally found mouth.

I could feel the changing intensity this time. This wasn't the same as all the other times that she had kissed me. This wasn't even the same as the times that I had kissed her. There was a fire in this embrace that seared my skin and warmed me hotter than any of the times that I had phased. Her hands slid down my neck to my shoulders, clasping at the muscles in my neck. My brain was still processing, but my body was reacting. I slid my forearm along her back like I had those first times that she had been sleeping. I kept my other hand wrapped around her head, keeping her mouth pressed close against mine.

Her nails traced down my skin, slowly but in a steady enough pace to kill me. And then she was fiddling with the waistband of my shorts, her nerves causing her to fumble. And then it all clicked in my brain. "What are you doing?" I managed to get out after I'd pulled back. I was practically panting, her effect on me undeniable. She tried to pull me back for another kiss, but I resisted. "Penn, what are you doing?"

"I know you're smarter than that," she teased. My heart stopped beating in my chest. I had never seen this side of Penn before. She was so carefree, so vulnerable. "Please, Embry."

"Please what?" Her hands slid down past waist to uncharted territory. I could feel the heat of her touch through the thin fabric of my pants. With pain and more will power than I knew I had, I pulled away. "Stop, love. I don't want to do anything you don't want to." I couldn't think of a reason that she would want this. Not after everything that she had been through. "You have to tell me why, Penn. I won't let you hurt yourself with this."

She rolled and pressed until she was lying completely on my chest, her lips a scant inch away from me. "Because I want to prove to myself that I can. I want to know that I can be normal, that I can do normal things with the person that I love." I tried desperately to down play it. I tried not to act like her words were as amazing as they sounded. But I couldn't. It was the first time that she had said it, truly said it to me. This wasn't like at the bonfire when she'd trusted me enough to fall asleep, knowing that I would be there to watch after her. No; this was her laying herself down in front of me, completely vulnerable. "I just want to know that I can do it. I just want to know that I am stronger than my fears."

"You're the strongest person that I know, Penn," I replied. "But I don't want you to try this because you have something to prove. You'll only hurt yourself and I can't stand to be party to that." I kissed her, trying to erase all of her pain and soak in the love that she was offering to me.

"How about because I love you?"

"What?" I was still dazed, enthralled by the things this girl could do to make me feel as amazing as she did.

"Can we please try because I love you?" How was I supposed to tell her no? She smelled like her normal sweetness blended in with smokey campfire. Her hair was a wavy mass about her face and her eyes were staring at me with the most unguarded look I had ever seen. How was I supposed to deny her anything but the world?

I kissed her again, dragging my fingers down her sides, over her hips, down her spine. I just wanted to feel her shiver from every touch that I gave. Her fingers threaded themselves in my hair, gently tugging on the strands as she lifted herself into a more comfortable position. I could feel the heat of her against my legs, lying directly over my own desire. "I don't want to hurt you," I muttered, thinking of all her injuries. She was on the mend, that was true. But there were still some things that she struggled with. She couldn't even brush her hair. Although, I wasn't inclined to complain about that. I loved the excuse to run my fingers through her hair and feel her melt like butter against my chest every time.

"You won't," she replied. "I know you won't. I trust you." It was like Christmas and my birthday wrapped into one; every gift that I could ever want laid down on top of me. I opened my eyes to see perspiration on her brow, the product of my warmth no doubt. But she didn't pull away. No, she gathered me even closer. "Please, Embry. Just try."

Her hand fisted around the hem of my shirt and pulled until it was bunched around my neck and threatening to suffocate me. I didn't have much of a choice. If I were to pull it back down, she would only repeat her motions. Her fingers traced every one of my abs, sending shockwaves down my bare skin. I lifted her shirt over her head then, unable to resist. She didn't fight, she didn't hesitate.

I fitted my hands to her waist, watching as she tossed her black hair over her shoulder so that she could see again. Her pulse throbbed in her neck, the vein jumping and begging for me to mark the soft skin just below. But I couldn't. It would be too much for her too soon. She needed time.

My fingers glided up her waist until I found the underside of her breasts. I rubbed the soft skin and listened to her gasp quietly. Her eyes had misted over as memories overtook her. "Penn," I called, ceasing all movement. Any thoughts that I had of continuing were out of my mind until she assured me that she was okay. "Love?" Her eyes squeezed shut, like she could somehow block out the memories. "Open your eyes, Penn. It's me. It's just Embry."

Like the beginning of a play, her eyes fluttered open. "It's just me. Just Embry. I'm not going to hurt you." I would repeat that until my last day on Earth. I craned my neck up to kiss her. She was stiff, rigid, uncomfortable. But I kept my mouth on hers, slowly kissing her until I felt the last of the tension ease right out of her. "We should stop."

"No." I stopped and looked at her in confusion. "No, I don't want to stop."

This girl was going to be the death of me.


	50. Chapter XLIX

**Author's Note: I know that it's been a couple of days. I'm really sorry it; I had an unexpected death in my family. While I love riding, family comes first. I may have to readjust the timetables while I work on helping my family deal with all of this. I beg you for a little bit a indulgence while i figure this at. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter XLIX:****_ Embry's Point of View_**

The sunlight was coming in, bright and warm, through the window. I couldn't remember the last time that I had slept in this late. Probably not as long as it had been since I'd been so comfortable. I opened my eyes up and looked down to see nothing but wavy black hair. Tiny hands rested on my collarbone and a smooth cheek was lying somewhere along my sternum. No one in their right mind would call Penn Rivers petite in any sense of the world, least of all in size. She wasn't heavy or even just _big_. She was tall and voluptuous with the body men dreamed about. But lying on my chest, all spread out, her elbows didn't even reach each of my shoulders. Her curvy body looked down right tiny next to me.

A surge of protectiveness unlike anything I had felt before welled up inside me. There had been multiple times during the night when I'd had to stop and let Penn come back to reality. The truth was that she was far more experienced than I would ever be. While I had never actually had sex, I knew that it was supposed to be about love. In that sense, I knew more than Penn. But I was going to teach her. I was going to make sure that she knew what it could feel like to be loved. I slid the hand that was wrapped around her waist up and down her back. My fingertips bumped along her spine and tripped over some scars. There weren't many of them, but the ones that were there were definitely deep. The pain this girl had gone through; it was enough to nearly break my heart.

Penn rubbed her cheek up and down my breastbone and groaned a little before she turned her head and rested her chin on my chest. Her rusty lips were swollen, but there was a glow over her face and a pretty pink blush over her cheeks. "Good morning," I muttered. She shivered, drawing her hands further underneath her to prop herself up. "Did you sleep well?" She nodded and turned away from me, staring towards the window. I opened my mouth with the plan of asking her what was wrong when she leaned down at kissed me.

How could so much sweetness be bottled up in one woman? She was so kind, so loyal. So beyond beautiful. Everything about her was so timid, especially for a girl who pretended otherwise every other moment of her day. My heart was pounding in my chest when she finally pulled away. Her hands had wriggled their way up to my neck, her thumbs stroking along my jawline. "I love you, Embry," she muttered. "I know that I shouldn't. I know that it's so soon, but I do." I smiled up at her, not sure that I had ever been this happy. "Thank you for last night, Embry." Her face went up in flames, her lip tucked between her teeth in embarrassment. "I, um, I didn't know that it could be like that."

She smiled shyly at me. I dug my hand into her hair and pulled her down to kiss her. "I love you too," I replied. "But you have work this afternoon. So I can't have you persuading me into begging you to call in sick."

"I don't think that's called persuasion, Em," she giggled. "But I do need to get back to work. God knows that all my bills are going to be insane and probably impossible to pay." Now the question was how to tell her that I'd been paying her bills with my savings account. Without her freaking her out or making her angry.

"You don't have to worry about them," I said, trying to draw out the words to find an adequate excuse as to _why_ she didn't have to. "The Pack takes care of their own. We have money set aside for this kind of thing," I lied. "When Jake heard about your attack, he went ahead and took care of your bills." Now I just had to make sure that Jake knew about my lie before Penn took it open herself to thank him.

"You guys don't have to do that kind of thing," she said. I could see her temper flare, but chose to ignore it. She would just have to get over it. She was my imprint. I would do anything that I could to take care of her. "I could have handled everything myself."

"Everyone was just trying to help you, love. They meant no harm," I replied.

"Can I pay you back?" My heart stopped. Did she realize that it was me? Had I failed in my efforts to lie to her. "I mean, you guys have money set aside\ and I would assume that you could always use it for someone else."

"We can make some kind of payment or something for you to get it all paid back," I replied. The idea in and of itself wasn't a bad one. We had enough injuries in our Pack, enough attacks, that it wouldn't be a bad idea for us to have money set aside to help people out. She nodded, contented with the idea. "Mom wants to have us over for lunch before we go to work."

"We?"

"Yes, we. We have a joint shift today so that I can help you get your feet under yourself. Once you feel comfortable with it, I'll leave you to do your thing and go run patrol," I replied. "Get dressed." She scrambled off my chest and grabbed hold of my hand, tugging until I was standing. I could see a kind of demure shyness in her movements, like she didn't want to think about the fact that she was completely naked. But she pulled me into the bathroom and started the shower. "Conserving the water, huh?" She just giggled and pulled me into the bathroom with her.

An house later, we were fully dressed and heading over to my mother's for lunch. Mom had figured out exactly what she wanted for Penn to do. Mostly, her plan was for my imprint to sit on her ass and wait for someone to come in. It suited me just fine. I didn't want her to be doing anything difficult while she was still recovering. I had no doubts that she was strong enough to do whatever it was that she wanted to. I just didn't want her to_ need_ to do those things. "How are you two doing today?" Mom asked as we walked in.

Penn walked right to her side and accepted my mother's eager embrace. "My boy been treating you right?" she asked, pointing a glance over her head. I smiled and nodded, but she didn't break eye contact with me until Penn whispered her own affirmation. "Well, lunch is on the table so why don't you head on in there. Embry, I need your help for just a moment." Penn nodded and marched away, not seeming the least bit uncomfortable with my mother's home. She was certainly coming out of her shell.

"What can I do for you, Mom?" I asked. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around my waist, resting her cheek against my chest. "What's wrong? What happened? Are you okay?" She nodded and sniffled.

"I'm so glad to see that girl coming into her own," she whispered, the words muffled by my shirt. "I like that girl."

"Well that's a good thing, Ma," I laughed. I leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Because she's not going anywhere any time soon. I love her."

"Oh I know that," she said, reaching up and patting my cheek. "I'm just glad that you're nothing like your father. That girl needs someone who is a stronger man than he was."

"And he is?" I asked the same question every single time she talked about my father. In all the years that I had been asking, though, my mother never said. She didn't want me to know.

"There are just some things that are better left unsaid, Embry. Now go on in there and get some lunch with your girl," she reprimanded. I turned to do as I was told, but she stopped me. "If you're planning on moving in with the girl, you might want to come up with a game plan to pay half her bills!" I nodded and pushed through the door.

"Don't even think about it," Penn said as I got through the door. "You're staying with me because I want you to stay with me."

"Penn -"

"No."

"Love, I just want to be helpful to you. I don't want you to feel like you have to take care of me," I explained. Caregiver was my job.

"I don't feel safe without you there, Embry." The hushed admission powered through me. "I'm scared to be there. There's been too much in my life. So I want you there. I don't want you to have to pay for things when it's my fears that are keeping you there." No, it was _her_ that was keeping me there. "Just stay with me, Em."

As corny as it was, I couldn't stop myself from replying, "Always."


	51. Chapter L

**Author's Note: Okay, here's the deal. I'm going back to the schedule on Saturday, but because of the death that happened, I've been losing my mind over here. Please see my profile for all the update times until Saturday. I'm really sorry. Family comes first. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter L**

Some way or another, Embry was beating me to pay my bills. I had been working at his mother's little place for a month, but now that school had started my hours were going to be cut. _That_ was when I noticed that my bills weren't as steep as they had been. Just earlier this month, when I called PG&E to pay my bill, my remaining balance was half of what it said on the notice that had been sent to me. Between my fantastic pay and my newfound connections to people, I had a life _and_ spending money. It was strangely normal.

Well, mostly. I didn't know many high school seniors who woke up each morning with their arms wrapped around a Spirit Warrior. Every single morning since he'd begun sleeping in my bed, I would wake up with my cheek pillowed on his chest and his warm arm wound around my waist. This morning was no different from every other one. "Wake up, love. It's time to go to school." I groaned like I did every morning. Embry chuckled, the routine happy and oh-so-sweet. "Get up and get dressed. We both know that you want to shower and make coffee."

I forced myself out of bed and into the bathroom. Staring at myself in the mirror, I hardly recognized myself anymore. The girl in the looking-glass looked like me, like I had always looked. But even I could see that my eyes weren't as dark and angry, my shoulders weren't slumped with the weight of the world. It looked happier, lighter, healthier. And Embry was the whole reason behind that. If it hadn't been for him, I probably would have died on the night of the attack. I didn't look like the stripper that had been fighting to make end's meet.

No; I looked like my mother.

The thought brought a pang of pain to my heart. Would she be proud of me? Or would she be disappointed? All she wanted was for us to get away from her husband, from my father. I had let him control me until I was a teenager and even after I was away from him, it took his death for me to be _free_. Would she be proud of how much I've fought for myself? Probably not; I couldn't imagine that woman that I remember being happy that I was living with a man unmarried. I decided to take solace in the fact that I was pretty sure my mother would have loved him.

She would never meet him. While I had come to grips with the fact that we would never see each other again, I wanted to know what had happened. Why had she left me? What made her think that I didn't need her around any more? It honestly was difficult for me to think of her as being selfish enough to leave me in hell all by myself. "That's a stern look you've got." I jumped at the sound of Embry's deep voice. He stepped forward, his beloved face appearing in the mirror above me. "What you thinking about?" he asked, dipping his face to kiss my shoulder and neck.

"My mother," I admitted. He rested his chin on top of my head. "I just wish that I knew what happened to her," I muttered after a few moments of silence. Embry steered me towards the shower, practically shoving me in. He jumped in behind me and started lathering up my hair. "She would have liked you." He just nodded. "Seriously, Em, what do you think happened to her? Do you think that she just stopped wanting me?"

"I can't imagine _anyone_ not wanting you, Penelope," he scoffed. "Rinse your hair out." He nudged me towards the shower's streaming water. "I would bet that your mother meant to come back for you and just...couldn't. I can't imagine her not loving you, Penn." He sighed and let him wrap his arms around me and hold me close for a few moments. "You should get going, We have to leave soon." I pulled back to step out, but he kissed me instead of releasing me. "If you want to, we can find out what happened to her. It will take some time and some digging, but we could find out."

Did the boy ever stop giving? "I'd like that," I whispered, stealing another kiss as I exited and wound a towel around myself.

I had given up on actually doing my hair. I still wore the baggy clothes and tried to disappear. But I had friends now, people that seemed to care about me. I had people to sit with me in my classes and laugh at my jokes. I found that I liked Ryanne Swan. She was everything that I wanted to be, everything I _tried_ to exude. There was nothing loud or obnoxious about her. She was kind and patient, but fearless in everything that she did.

Lunch was the time that our entire Pack managed to come together. Our routine was easy and wonderful. The boys would hand over some money or their entire wallets, in some cases, and leave us to get lunch. We girls would march off to the lunch lines, chatting about school, homework, and whatever else came up. About a month into school, the imprints had grabbed all of the food orders and were walking back to the table when hell broke loose.

Charlie had been balancing her tray with one hand and signing, like she usually did. It was still weird to hear her speak. I had known her for our entire lives and she'd never spoken. But she wasn't shy, now, either. Paul, and the Pack, had been good for her. She exuded confidence, letting her beauty truly shine through. Beauty that people were starting to notice. Like the new football players that had been invited to attend the school from the Makah Reservation.

One instant, we were walking by him and in the next, Ryanne had thrown her food on the ground and lunged at him. I'd heard the metallic clap of flesh on flesh and a startled little breath from my cousin. In a blast of thunder, Jake had pulled Ryanne away from the offending man. Paul had appeared out of no where and pulled Charlie away from everyone else. I could see her hands lifting to tell him that she was fine, but he clearly didn't care about that. I opened my own mouth to tell him to listen to her when I found myself brought against a warm, broad chest. "You okay?" Embry growled.

"I'm fine, Em."

"Did he touch you?"

"No." I glanced behind us to see Jared, Kim, and Jake standing behind a clearly livid Ryanne. I picked up a few words like _castrate_ and _screws_ and _ogre_, but Embry kept us going. "Em, I'm fine, we should go back over there."

"With that man acting like that?" he retorted incredulously.

"I've dealt with my fair share of rowdy men, Em," I reminded him. The dark expression on his face when he pulled me to a stop told me that I said the wrong thing.

"Don't you think that I know that?" he demanded of me. "Why do you think that I'm trying to get you _away_ from that? I don't want you to have to deal with _anything_ that could possible remind you of your past. Guys slapping your ass is not something that's supposed to happen. It's not something that you're supposed to think is fine. _That's _why I'm not letting you stand over there. It's not a normal thing and I refused to let you think of it like that."

I did a quick peek around to make sure that there was no one watching. Then I stepped up to his chest. "One of the many things that I have learned from you is to stop running from my past. I used to hide from it, to try and forget that it happened." I shook my head. "We both know how that worked out for me. But you showed me that my childhood, the things that happened to me, the things that I chose to do to keep myself from falling apart, no matter how terrible they were - - Embry, you showed me that they made me who I am. That's not something to be ashamed of," I said, craning my neck to look back at him.

"Throwing my own words back at me, huh?" he growled. "You little scamp."

"The point is that I have certain skills because of my history. I can deal with rowdy men to a certain extent. I'm not afraid of pain. I'm good at balancing budgets and figuring stuff out," I said.

He sighed and slid his hands up my side to my neck. "Do we _have_ to keep talking or can I apologize now?" I bit my lip and nodded, knowing that he would understand what I was saying. Once he had kissed me senseless, he pulled back and took my hand.

I started walking away, assuming that we were heading back to our friends. But Embry lightly jerked me to a stop. "I, uh, I figure now is as good a time as any to tell you. At least, this way you have work to think things over." I frowned and cocked my head to the side. "I - - I think I found your mom."


	52. Chapter LI

**Author's Note: Okay, here's the next chapter. We should be able to get back to our daily updates now that I'm out of my prior situation. Please be aware that my pen name will be changing very soon. I hope you all enjoy!**

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**Chapter L**

My blood was pounding in my ears. I didn't know what to think. I sagged into Embry's embrace and let him hold me up while I let the words process. I couldn't think. She had left. Why had she left me? In the arms of a man that was nothing good; nothing kind. I would feel myself trembling. "Penn, love, say something. Please," he begged me. "I didn't want to upset you. I just... I just thought that you would want to know." Of course I wanted to know. I needed to know what I had done that made her want to leave me. "Say something, anything."

"Where is she?" I muttered brokenly.

"Florida." Why Florida? What was waiting for her there? Another family? Another little girl that some man hadn't ruined? "If you promise not to get mad at me, I'll tell you what I thought that we could do." I nodded. "I talked to my mom. I was thinking that maybe... we could take the week off of work when Thanksgiving comes around. It's only three weeks away from now."

"You want to go find my mother?" I wanted to sob, to let him wrap his arms around me and hold me close. I wanted to crawl back into bed, snuggle somewhere beaten the warmth of Embry's chest and the silkiness of the blankets. I wanted to go back to when things were so much simpler. "Why?"

"Because, love, you have questions to ask her. You have answers that you need. And like it or not, I can't let you traipse across the country by yourself. What if something were to happen to you?" It was one of the things that I had never done. I had never traveled, not far. And I most certainly couldn't do it alone. Not now that I found myself dependent on Embry like I was. Of course, as was the norm, Embry was right again. I did want answers. I wanted to know what had been so great that it had taken my mother away from me.

Those were the desires that I was forced to ponder all through my shift, while I was pretending to do math homework. God knew that I hated the subject, but that I was determined to graduate. It was just another battle that I could not let my father win. I had already let him set my education behind with the legal battles. I should have graduated this year. But no; not this time. I wasn't that fortunate. All of the time that was consumed with finding a way to get out of his clutches meant that I was forced to focus on something other than school.

Like he normally did, Embry met me in his car when my shift was over. His mother had come in to bake the breads and take a nice nap on the sofa in the back room. I was to go home and get some rest. "Embry said that he'd given you some bad news this morning," she whispered. "You should go home. I've already texted him."

"But -"

"Don't worry; I know the boss. I'll tell her you worked a full shift," she said, giving me a wink and a pat on the back before sending me out the room.

"How was your shift?" he asked me the moment that I was settled in his car.

"Was it really your mother's idea to send me home, or did you pull some strings?" I asked.

"All her." He smiled and took my hand. "So I ask again: how was your shift?"

"What if she doesn't want to see me?" The words kind of burst through me like a bullet from a gun. There had to be some reason that she left. There had to be a purpose behind it. "What if I wasn't good enough for her, Embry? Maybe she left because she knew she couldn't love me."

"I don't doubt that your mother loved you to her very core, Penn," he whispered. My brain hadn't even registered that we'd been driving. I suddenly found myself being helped from the car. His arms were wrapped around me, tight and warm and constricting. "Despite your beliefs, you are a very lovable. The only one who can explain why she left is your mother."

"Which is why we're going to see her," I replied. There was a shocked look in his eye, but as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. His hand found my head and pulled my head down in a kiss. One which I readily gave, soaking in the strength that he was offering me. His whispered words of assurance then, promising me that it was going to be okay; that he was going to be there for me every step of the way.

Words that I clung to when his mother hugged us tight outside the airport and we were finally off. Embry waited only long enough to hear the safety presentation before he fell asleep, resting his head against my shoulder to keep himself out of the aisle. I didn't get any sleep and I didn't really think that I would. There were too many questions and too few answers jumbling around in my head. "Would you like something to drink ma'am?" the flight attendant asked.

"Just a water," I replied. "And, uh, if I could get one for him as well that'd be great." She nodded graciously and handed me the waters. "If he doesn't wake up before our flight lands, I might have to pour it on him," I grumbled under my breath. The elderly lady beside me heard me, though. She tried to stifle her laughter but couldn't. "Sorry; I didn't mean to be so loud." Embry groaned in his sleep and searched blindly for my hand. I was used to it; he'd been doing the same thing since my attack. Apparently he had dreams about me, about not being able to save me.

"He's an overprotective one, huh?" she said in a deep Southern drawl.

"Yes ma'am," I whispered, wondering how a woman from the South ended up in Seattle Airport.

"Where are you two headed off to?" she asked then. I stiffened. It was just friendly conversation, but everything in me still screamed that people couldn't be trusted.

I tightened my grip on Embry's hand, anchoring myself to him. "Florida; to visit my mother," I replied. The destination of our location seemed to remind her of something. She started regaling me with tails of childhood days spent in the Everglades until mere moments before we arrived in Denver for our layover. I scratched at Embry's hand, trying to subtly wake him. He groaned and whimpered, muttering about having to wake up.

But wake up he did. And then he was bent on preoccupying me from the upcoming encounter. We would walk through all of the little shopping centers, Embry asking me if I wanted anything. Other than the soda that we bought, I didn't see a reason to buy souvenirs for this trip. Not until I had my questions answered, of course. "Hey, Em?" I asked when we were sitting in the little waiting lobby in front of our gate. He hummed and looked down at me. "How?"

"How what, love?" He snuggled me to his chest and chaffed my arm with his hand.

"How did you find her?"

He pressed a kiss to the top of my head. "I'm good friends with the son of the Chief. He knows everything that happens in this tribe." I smiled at him. "Your mother told one person, who wished to remain unnamed, about where she was going. That person told Billy about it. From there, it was a matter of making a lot of phone calls and figuring out where she went from there."

"And that led you to Florida?" He nodded but we were being called to board our flight then and didn't have much more of a chance to talk. Embry was sleeping and I was planning what I would say to her when I first saw her. There was a part of me that wanted to be angry, that was planning on just screaming at her and making sure that she knew how livid I was. There was the little girl that was still trapped in me. She wanted to wrap up in her mother's embrace and tell her about everything that had happened since she'd left. Which left me, the person that I was, confused and unsure how to behave.

"You're worrying again," Embry muttered. His voice was quiet. His eyes were shut. He was lying against my shoulder. "Everything is going to be fine." That was the same sentence that he repeated when I decided that we were going to see her. And now he continued to say it while we got in our cab and headed towards the hotel. I showered, or at least pretended to shower. In reality, I was just letting the hot water run down my back. Embry said that he was calling for dinner, since he was beyond starving, but it felt like seconds later that he was slipping in behind me in the shower. "You're stressing yourself out, love." My lips twitched when I felt his lips against my hair.

"I just want answers, Embry. I'm not stressing myself out," I replied.

"Really?" he laughed. "So if I were to do this -" His fingers grazed the underside of my breast and caused me to gasp. It felt so good to have him there, holding me, behind me. I melted into him, my spine turning to mush. "You just have to relax, Penn. Let's eat, get some sleep, and tomorrow we'll go and see her."

I turned around and kissed him, melding my mouth to his. "I love you, Em."

"I love you too, Penelope."


	53. Chapter LII

**Author's Note: Okay, here's the next chapter. I know that I've been kind of drawing it out. It's not for lack of inspiration. Rather, it's because I have trouble finding the best points at which to break up the chapters. Hope that makes sense! Enjoy!**

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**Chapter LII**

"I am not taking you out of this room until you drink some coffee and eat at least _half_ a bagel," Embry said the next morning. I was wearing a nicer shirt and my favorite pair of jeans, despite the fact that we were in Florida. It was hot, muggy, and just gross. A big change from the regular cool, drizzle in Forks. I had been nervously chattering the majority of our morning, mostly because Embry wouldn't tell me where we were going to meet my mother. I was beginning to wonder if she knew that we were coming at all.

I downed the coffee, not really tasting it but scalding my throat in the process. "Could we please go now?" I asked around the mouthful of bagel. Embry rolled his eyes and nodded, clearly endeared by my nerves. Beneath the surface, though, you could see his fear. He was worrying about me, concerned about this meeting. "Where are we going?"

His hand found my lower back and guided me towards the door of our room. He hadn't answered me, but when I opened my mouth to demand an answer to my question, I was hit with a wall of humidity that curled my wavy hair to my head. Embry laughed at it and tucked me into his side. "You're hair might as well be wet right now." I stepped out of his arms, the heat of him and the weather unbearable. He ushered me to a taxi, the look on his face growing darker and darker by the moment. "Boca Raton Regional Hospital," he instructed.

My heart stuttered. My mother was at the hospital? What was she doing at the hospital? "What's wrong with her?" I asked him. The air conditioned cab made it easier for me to sink into his arms. He readily gave me comfort, his hand chaffing my arm. "Do you know what's wrong with her, Embry?" He kissed my forehead.

"They wouldn't tell me. She didn't claim any family, so they couldn't tell me what was wrong when I found her," he explained. "She's been here for a while, though. They do a lot of charity work. I think that's how she got in. As far as I know, she's never had to pay them for anything that they've done. But they wouldn't tell me what it is that she's had done," he continued. Embry had known everything, though, because our hotel was as close to the hospital as we could get. We probably could have walked if it wasn't for the ridiculous heat and humidity. I would have been loathed to let Embry's hot arms carry me through that warmth.

He marched me into the hospital to the front desk and started asking questions. "We're looking for Elizabeth Cutler," he said. My mother had changed her name? No; she'd probably gotten married again. I knew that I shouldn't be wanting my mother to be with someone that wasn't my family, but I couldn't help but hope that maybe she had found some kind of happiness.

"Visiting hours in that department are limited," she said. "But it looks like Ms. Cutler is available. Elevator is just to the left. Take it up to the sixth floor and head to right. She's room 614." Embry nodded curtly and looked over my head at something. I heard him suck in a tight breath, the one that normally said that he didn't like what he saw. I tried to follow his gaze, but he pulled me along before I could figure out what was bothering him.

We took the directions that were given to us and ended up facing an elderly looking woman standing in front of her door. "They called up and let us know you were coming. Who are - - You're her, aren't you?" She pointed an old, gnarled fingered at me. Embry growled lowly in his chest and clutched me tighter to his side. Her face cracked, revealing a smile underneath. "You have to be her."

I stepped forward, but Embry immediately hauled me back. "I'm Penelope Rivers. I'm - - I'm looking for Elizabeth Cutler." She nodded and pushed the door open. There were machines around the room that were beeping and illuminating. The woman lying on the bed in the center was pale, shriveled, and most definitely ill. She looked nothing like the woman that I remembered, the woman in my dreams. "Embry," I breathed so quietly that I was sure the other women in the room couldn't hear it. He turned his face towards me. "I don't think that this is her."

But Embry licked his lips, looked at the dying woman in the bed, and then nodded. "This is her, Penn," he whispered back. "You have her nose and mouth." My mouth began to shake as I looked at the details that he was pointing out. It was my mother's nose, pert and prim. I thought that I would recognize her by her hair but it was hidden beneath a bandana.

"Elizabeth, look at who came to visit. It's your daughter, Penelope. Remember about all the times that you've told me about her? You were so excited for her to see you in heaven." The older woman gently tried to rouse her. Brown eyes that mirrored my own peered up at the ceiling. It was truly her. "Come on, Elizabeth. Your little girl has found you. You remember her." My mother groaned and fumbled for a remote. It took her a little while to figure it out, but soon enough she was sitting up and looking at me. "See, sweetheart?"

"Penelope?" Her voice sounded like something that had gone through a cheese grater. I could barely understand her. "It's you." Tears fell from her eyes then. "Oh my pretty little Penny." She tried to lift her arms. And even though I could see her muscles trembling, it was the gesture and words that caught me. Every night, she would say that sentence and lift her arms. I would dive into bed with her and let her hold me while we waited for the night to end and the torture to begin again.

Keeping hold of Embry, I placed myself on the edge of her bed and leaned my chest down to her boney shoulder. "What happened to you, Mama?" I asked. Embry's hand tightened around mine, his thumb stroking over the back of mine. "Why are you here?" I pulled back to look at her. Her chest heaved a little more, making me realize that my body weight had hurt her. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to hurt you." I pushed up and into Embry's arms.

"You didn't hurt me, Penelope," she whispered. "I never thought to see you again." I felt a pang in my heart, wondering if she wanted me to leave. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?" And then she seemed to realize what it would mean if I had found her. "Is he here, Penelope? Did he find me?"

"No, Mama." My voice broke as the tears came. Embry pulled me back against his chest and then walked us forward so that we were standing at my mother's bedside.

"He will never get to you again, ma'am," Embry spoke. His chest vibrated against my back as he spoke. "Not you and most certainly not your daughter." His hands stroked my forearms.

"Mama, this - - this is Embry Call. He's my, uh, my -" What was he? I would have normally said that he was my wolf or that I was his imprint. That wasn't acceptable terminology away from the Pack. "He's my boyfriend. Embry, this is my mama."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am." She smiled up at the two of us, her eyes watery and lips quivering.

"Promise me that you'll take care of my girl," she coughed out.

I could feel Embry's smile when his arms tightened around me. "Always and forever, ma'am," he replied. How could you ever doubt him when he spoke so fervently? "I'm going to use the restroom," he announced. I knew what he was doing. He was giving me time to get my answers when my mother wouldn't feel compelled to hide the secrets of our past. He turned his face into my neck and kissed my cheek. Pulling back, he breathed in my ear, "I'll stay just outside the door. You don't even have to talk very loud." I nodded and watched him walk away.

"It's okay, Helen," my mother spoke after Embry had left the room. The old crone was standing in the corner smiling suspiciously at her. "I need this time with my daughter." Her eyes met mine with a bright smile that her facial muscles couldn't match. The door clicked in the silence of the room and left me staring at her. "You're beautiful, Penny. It looks like he did okay keeping you fed and dressed."

"He hasn't been a part of my life in a few years," I whispered.

"How -?"

"I'm an emancipated minor. They couldn't find an Elizabeth Rivers; they assumed that you had died. I went to court for a year and won," I explained. I found myself wishing that Embry was there. Things would be so much easier if he was there, supporting me and making sure that she knew that my father couldn't torture us any more.

"I'm sure you have questions Penny."

"Why did you leave?" I asked. She sighed and adjusted her seat a little more.

"You might want to make yourself comfortable. There's a lot to all this."


	54. Chapter LIII

**Author's Note: Okay, here we go again. I hope you all enjoy! Love & Thanks for all the support!**

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**Chapter LIII**

"He wasn't always like that. When I first met him, your father was a charming man. He knew how to charm the stripes off a zebra," she whispered, her voice raspy. It was almost painful to listen to. But hearing her quirky sayings, the ones that I hadn't heard in so many years, I could feel joy and hope welling in my heart. Everything had turned about in my life. I even had my mother back with me. I had her here and Embry outside the door and the beast that had ruined me in his grave. What more could there be? "It wasn't until after we married that he became what you knew. I suppose that's what every woman says though, right?" She laughed harshly.

"Mama, I don't need to know the how. I want to know the why," I whispered. She looked at me with a curious eye. "Why did you leave?"

"You were so little. When you were first born, he didn't seem to care that you were a girl. He loved you, Penny." I snorted. When had that changed? He didn't seem to care about me, least of all after she'd left me. "You're father really did love you. At some point. And somewhere, deep in his heart, I think that he still does. Or that he did, I guess. I was - - When he started hitting you, I didn't know what to do, Penelope. I thought that if I could keep him happy, keep him occupied, he would leave you alone. And he did, for some time."

"Then I drew on the wall with crayons. I was four; I remember," I muttered. "That was the first time that I remember him hitting me."

She nodded and let out a throaty cough, struggling to keep herself awake from what I could tell. "I started to feel ill a few days after you turned five. At least, that is the first morning I remember waking up with the blood. I wasn't getting any better, not like I should be. It didn't take very long before I realized what it was." Finally we were getting to what I wanted to know. "Your Aunt Maria took me to the doctor's, all the way in Olympia where your father wouldn't know. He didn't believe in doctors. He thought that they were only going to make me eve more ill. Carcinoid tumors, that's what they called them."

"You have cancer?" I demanded. I could feel the tears clogging my throat. "You're going to die?" I heard a low growl from outside. Embry; he would know. He would have heard me. He would be dying to come in here and hold me. I was dying to let him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were seven, Penelope. What was I supposed to say? At the time, they didn't know much about the cancer. They still don't. They just assumed that it was going to be slow growing. For the last ten years, I guess it has. It's progressed faster than the thought."

"None of this tells me why you left, Mama. You could have stayed with me. I could have found a way out. _We_ could have gotten out, together, like we always talked about," I whispered.

"I didn't want you to see me ill. I have lost most of my hair. I can't do many things because of this cancer. The things it's taken away from me, Penny." She didn't want me to see her die. She could't let me see her waste away. "I thought you were smarter than falling in love, though," she admitted. I narrowed my eyebrows and followed her gaze to the door. Embry's silhouette was staring at us. He marched back and forth, stopping at the opaque glass window and staring in. "He's surely handsome."

I smiled at he dreamy look that touched my mother's otherwise dead eyes. "Down, Mama; he's mine," I laughed. She smiled back at me and then looked to Embry. "I didn't fall in love with him because he was the first man to show me kindness in my life, Mama. Embry's special. He's different. He saved my life more times than I think I want to admit," I said.

"What do you mean, Penny?"

"I don't think you want to know, Mama," I murmured, afraid of what I would reveal to her. She stared at me with that expectant look that I recognized from my youth. "I was emancipated at fifteen. I've been on my own ever since. No real friends; just me and Charlie. I bought a house, tried to pay it off by myself. Got a job, kept going to school; but it wasn't enough." My lips shook. "Mama, I - - I want Embry in here for this. Is that okay for you?" My heart thundered, wondering how I could tell her what I had done without his support. She nodded.

On my sigh of relief, Embry opened the door and stepped inside. He looked down at my mother, gave her a charming grin and then stepped up behind me. His shoulders hunched around me in a armless embrace. "I went back to what I knew. I was a stripper for a long time." Embry stiffened and took a deep breath to control his temper. "The man I worked for, I didn't think that he knew about me. I thought he was just some guy who owned a club." She nodded in understanding. "But he worked for Dad." My mother's eyes darkened and Embry's growl rumbled in his chest. I wrapped my arm around my body until I could reach his forearm and gave him a reassuring squeeze. "He attacked me."  
"He almost killed her," Embry muttered.

"Stop; you're going to get yourself worked up," I warned him. "Embry found me; saved me. He's done nothing but care for me since the moment that he met me." I wished that he wasn't there. I wished that he wouldn't hear the things that I was admitting about him. "Don't go getting a big head about this," I grumbled, hoping my mother wouldn't hear me. His chuckle ran through his chest like a storm passing through. It was so warm, so comfortable. "I love him, Mama. He's the - - Embry's the reason that I'm okay like I am now. He's the reason that I've found you again."

A tear escaped her lashes. "A touch too late," she muttered. Embry's arms did come around me then. He pulled me tight to his chest and leaned down to kiss my cheek.

"Be happy for the time that you have, Penn," he breathed so low that I couldn't imagine my mother hearing.

"You're dying?" I asked again. Embry's hand chafed my arm as I fought for control of my emotions. "But I just found you. We've only just gotten to be with each other!" I was outraged, the prospect of losing her again threatening to cleave me in two. "No, Mama; you can't leave me again. You - - you can come home. With me and Embry; you can come and live with us. You've been in a hospital too long. Some time away would do you good. You'd heal better living at home us."

I twisted my neck to look at Embry. He nodded, agreeing with me about her coming with us. "I cannot, Penny. This is the only place that I am safe," she replied. I knew what she meant. Here was the only place where she was safe from men. She probably had only female doctors, only female nurses. She didn't have visitors. She was far from danger here in this hospital.

"Please, Mama," I begged. "Embry can keep you safe. He's done the same with me. Please, Mama." She shook her head again.

"Living out there," she sighed and reached out to take my hand. I noticed the wires feeding in and out of her body then. She truly was sick. "It was what I always wanted for you, Penny. I want you to have a normal life. And this man, he gives that to you." She wrapped her gnarled hand around mine and and Embry's combined. "Thank you for finding my daughter," she said, meeting his gaze. "Thank you for keeping her safe and proving to her that not everything in the world is the evil he made her endure."

Embry simply dipped his head in humility and pressed a kiss to my hair in the process. "We were planning to stay for a week, ma'am," he breathed. "Perhaps during that time, you could consider Penn's offer. I know my mother would be glad to have a houseguest." My heart stuttered.

"Mama, you would love Lucy. She lives alone, since Embry has moved in with me. You could stay with her. She would take care of you and I could be there every day," I bounced. Embry squeezed my upper arm in restraint.

"Please just reconsider, ma'am. We will be here for a week," he repeated.

"Elizabeth needs her rest," Helen announced once she bustled in. "This has been more activity than she's had in the last ten years." I smiled and nodded, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"I love you, Mama."

"I love you too, Penny."

I took Em's hand and marched toward the door with him. Once outside, I stopped and stepped up to Embry's chest. His arms engulfed me just like he always did. "Thank you, Embry."

"Always, love."


	55. Chapter LIV

**Author's Note: Okay, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter LIV**

"None of the treatments that we've tried have worked," Mama said the final morning of our vacation. Embry had forced me from her room every night, wrapping his arms around me and forcing me to his chest and out of my mother's room. Now, we were talking about how to get her back to Washington with us. "There's no reason for me to stay here when nothing that we're doing is working." Embry had decided that I would be staying with his mother for a few days, helping my mother get acclimated. I would even spend the night and Embry would go home, trying to make it easier for my mother. She needed to get accustomed to my new world before she would be more comfortable.

The prospect of her flying was a little worrisome, but the nurses and doctors that I spoke with didn't seem t think that there was going to be a problem. "She will be tired," that's all they kept telling us. Her energy levels were extremely low. Embry was talking to my mother about his home, about picking her up, about carrying her while I sat down with one of the doctors that was there. The woman was older, but her hair wasn't showing even a sliver of grey. "Consider it hospice," she implored me. "Your mother is going to be very sick. The likelihood of her surviving for more than a few weeks is very slim."

"I thought doctors didn't say stuff like that," I whispered, remembering all the times I'd heard those words from Charlie. They couldn't say things about time, Charlie always told me, because everything was ever-changing.

"I'm just letting you know what the odds are, Miss Rivers. I haven't seen anything like her tumors in a patient that survived. That's all I'm trying to say. Cherish the time that you have with her."

The words were ringing in my ears when I watched Embry carry my mother through _his_ mother's home into the guest bedroom. "She's starting to trust you," I whispered when my mother woke and didn't scream bloody murder. Embry settled himself on the couch beside me and took my hand in his. "Have I thanked you yet for taking me to find my mother?" I asked him then, leaning over to rest my head on his shoulder. He wound his arm about my waist and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of my head.

"I don't think you've said it _today_," he replied. I rolled my eyes and snuggled into him. I could feel his heart beating a mile a minute underneath my ear. "I don't think that I'll be able to get a wink of sleep tonight," he sighed. "At least, not with you in a different house. Won't even be able to _smell_ you."

"I'm going to pretend you said something more romantic than that," I whispered. The truth was that I wasn't sure if I could survive the night without him either. "You should go run or something. Mama just doesn't want you around while she sleeps. It's when he used to -"

"I don't want to know," he cut in. "I already know that the things he's done to you make me gag. I'm not up for hearing more about his atrocities when I can't hold you tonight." I smiled wistfully at him and slowly ran my fingers up and down his forearm, watching his skin pimple and pucker. He grumbled and groaned, clearly unhappy about leaving me for the night. "Do I get a kiss before you kick me out of the house?" I nodded and leaned up to press a kiss to his lips in a silent goodbye.

I should have known such a chaste kiss wasn't going to be enough for the boy. Embry gently pushed me down to the couch's cushion, carefully pinning me with his weight. I slid my hands up to his sides, feeling the breadth of his chest and the pounding of his heart. His tongue drew along the seam of my lips languidly, begging for an entrance. I didn't give, enjoying the desperate turn to his kiss. He tried again, making the move slower in a hope to gain access. I denied him again. He groaned and attempted one last time.

I opened my mouth to him and let him, feeling like I was a part of him once again. He rested his weight on his forearms, bracing them against the couch on either side of my head. As we lost ourselves in the passion a little more, his fingers splayed and buried themselves into my hair. I moaned deep into his mouth, enjoying the mass of him pressed against me. A throat cleared in the doorway, forcing Embry to jerk his face away from mine. He didn't move us completely, though. He shielded me from the eyes of his mother, hiding my blush from sight. "Say goodbye to the girl, Embry," she commanded. "You guys have had a long day. I'm sure both of you are tired. Get along."

It was funny to hear Lucy kicking her son out of their home. She turned away though, probably still sitting in the other room making sure that Embry was going to leave. "She'll come back in here if I'm not out of here in the next fifteen minutes," he whispered. He collapsed down on me. His weight wasn't lying completely on me, but I could still feel him all over me.

"You really think you have a whole fifteen minutes?" I teased. He groaned as I pulled him down to kiss me again when I felt the consequences of our passion throbbing against my thigh. It was strange to think that a simple action that had once terrified me now caused liquid lightening to pool in the pit of my stomach. "You're going to pay for this later, aren't you?" I asked him. I knew Embry would patiently wait for me to come home again.

"Sometimes the joy is worth the pain," he replied. "I should get going before I find a reason to stay."

That was the way that our nights worked for a few weeks. My mother and I grew closer and closer while we waited for the cancer to finish ravaging her body. It was taking its sweet time, and that time was _bittersweet_ for me. I was getting to reconnect with my mom, to find out what had happened to her since she'd left me. All the while, though, I was aware that my mother was going to be leaving me soon. She would be gone again. "At least this time you know where she's going," Embry muttered during one of our nightly farewells.

Christmas was just around the corner. I was ecstatic. Not only was I going to have my first Christmas with my mother in more than ten years, I was going to have a _real_ Christmas. We used to have them, the first few years of my life. But after Dad started hitting me more and more, Christmas only happened when I had been a good girl. Long story short, I was never good enough to get a Christmas. This year would be different. I hadn't figured out what I was buying Embry for the holiday. With only three days left, it wasn't the smartest thing I had ever put off. But what did you give the man who had everything?

Christmas Eve found me at my house alone while Embry was running patrol. My mother and Lucy had become good friends. While my mom was still shy and afraid of saying something that would get her a beating, she was discovering the same thing that I had learned. Watching her blossom made me wonder if that was what Embry saw in me. He stood by me through everything.

Part of their gift to Embry and me had been a night to ourselves. Both mothers declared that they didn't want to know about what we did. Unfortunately for both of us, Embry had drawn the short straw and been stuck with patrol the night before the holiday. I went home to wait for Embry, rearranging my closet, fixing the dresser, putting all of Embry's clothes back in his duffle bag. That was when it hit me.

The boy knew that he was welcome in my home. Hell, I thought that we had silently agreed that this was his home now. But his clothing was littered around his duffle bag that he kept full of clothes. A quick look in the bathroom had all of his things in another little bag. He was living like a guest in our home. That would be the best thing to give him. I rushed back to the room and pulled open the drawer that I hadn't touched in ages. Not since right after I had met Embry.

The sequins and leather smiled up at me, teasing me as the reminder of the things that I had done. The person that I had once been. I tipped the drawer upside down and threw the clothing on the ground. I did the same with the next two drawers until there was a mountain of skimpy clothing on my floor. Without a backwards glance, I threw in my big trashcans and headed back to the room to unpack Embry's bags.

That part of my like was over. It was time to show Embry what I really wanted. Him.


	56. Chapter LV

**Author's Note: Okay, if you're angry at me, I totally understand. If you are interested in knowing, I finally moved apartments and then had troubles connecting my laptop to my apartment unit's internet. I'm really sorry. Hopefully, I'll be able to get better about updating now that everything is slowing down. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter LV: _Embry's Point of View_**

I was so damned pissed. I didn't want to have patrol tonight. I had quite literally drawn the short straw when it came to running. It was the only way to decide who was going to be running patrol. All of us wanted to be home with our imprints, but the reality was that someone had to be on guard. Originally, each of us had argued why we should be allowed to stay. The only ones who were actually exempt were Paul and Jake. Jake needed to be at the house with Nessie, in case Bella and Cullen tried to do anything. And Paul? Well, he had never really celebrated a Christmas before. From what Penn had told me, Charlie was planning some big presents for them.

So the rest of us had drawn straws, leaving me with the short straw that meant that I wouldn't get to be home with my imprint until almost three in the morning. Knowing Penn and how tired she had been in the last couple of days, I wasn't in for any Christmas surprises. She had been trying to squeeze as much time with her mother in as possible, as if the woman was going to die any moment. What Penn didn't see was how good her mother was doing. The older woman, who was younger than my mother, was slowly getting more color to her cheeks. I could hear her heart beating stronger every day. The doctor's had said that her death was inevitable, but I was only hoping that she would be around long enough to give Penn a good chance to be with her. Just to be with her for a few months, for Penn to realize that she wasn't this terrible person that she always thought she was; that she hadn't driven her mother away.

I made the last round before I was supposed to be relieved at lightning speed, my only thoughts being about my bed and my imprint. I hear you, Quil grumbled. Emily had asked for Claire to spend the night, but the request had been denied. Which left for an incredibly grumpy wolf. Get out of here. One of us might as well get some sleep. I bounded off and came to a sliding stop at Penn's front yard. I phased out and practically ran up the porch walkway, inhaling her sweet scent as I went.

I stopped dead when I got to the front door, though. Sitting there, glaring at me, was the duffle bag that I had used to keep all of my things. My heart skittered, worst possible scenarios slipping through my brain. It didn't make sense. She had said that she was happy with me, happier than she had been in such a long time; happier than ever. Her mother was warming up to me, albeit slowly. Perhaps her mother didn't like me. That would explain her desire to kick me out. If her mom was't comfortable at my home and wasn't sure how she felt about me, then it wouldn't really be Penn's choice. And it would make complete sense if she chose to kick me out.

Instead of letting irrational thoughts get the best of me and storm off angrily like I wanted to, I shoved the front door open and slipped inside. I ducked into the bathroom, but all of my things were gone from there as well. "Penn?" I called. "Penn, are you here." I gently pushed the bedroom aside to be caught with the sight of Penn lying on our bed, her head pillowed on my pillow. Her tan legs led up to a dingy t-shirt that I recognized as mine. She couldn't be too mad at me if she wanted to sleep in my shirts. "That's something to be thankful for, at least."

Penn rolled over and murmured my name, an excited smile on her drowsy face. I expected her to fall back to sleep, to go back to bed and leave me to figure out what was going on. Of course, it wouldn't be like Penn to do something that I was expecting. She shoved herself up and scrubbed at her sleepy eyes with the back of her hand. "You're home," she whispered, blinking hard to force me to come into focus. "How was your night?" she asked then.

There was a different look in her face, something that I hadn't seen before. She was going to ask me to leave, to get out of here. I swallowed hard and mumbled a response about wanting to come home, but I didn't tell her that I was glad to be home. I couldn't bear it if she told me to leave. "Well, go take a shower and then come to bed," she replied some time later. I did as she asked, heading towards the bathroom trying to keep my head in the ground so that she wouldn't see just how frightened I was.

The drawers that held some of Penn things had the tiny Christmas bows on the, tags hanging from them. Curiosity got the best of me and I lifted it to my eyes. To Embry; I love you, it said. I pulled open the drawer and found of all my things stashed away in a proper place alongside hers. It was a wonderful mixture of male and female. A blending of us. I turned around to look at her when more gleaming ribbons caught my eye. Penn was still resting her head on my pillow when I snuck a glance at her. I scampered over to the dresser and jerked the drawer upon as well.

All of my things were lying alongside hers, except for the bottom drawer, which was entirely mine. The tag on the handles said the exact same thing that she'd written on the others. The drawer squeaked closed when I pushed, Penn's heart jumped and sat straight up in bed. "I didn't mean to wake you," I said in way of apology. "But sense you're awake, would you mind explaining this." I couldn't help myself. I knew that I shouldn't be asking her. She should be asleep at the moment. She pushed herself up a little higher in the bed and nibbled on her lip.

"I was just thinking that it was silly for your stuff to be lying al over the floor and in the little bags that you have. You - - you live here with me, after all." She was blushing beat red, her heart thundering in her chest. "I don't want you to leave, Embry. Ever. I know that things have been hard while my mom's been here. I know that we haven't been spending as much time together as we would like. I... I don't want you to go anywhere else, Em."

I bounded up onto the bed, landing with a loud cringe from the mattress springs. Cautiously, I drew her into my arms and forced her head to fall down against my shoulder. She settled into my arms, but I could still feel some tension in her muscles. I pressed a kiss into her forehead, a smile playing at her lips. "It never even crossed my mind to be upset with you for the troubles that your mother is having. I didn't know that we were giving Christmas gifts," I added. She just shrugged. "What was in those drawers anyways?" She blushed even redder.

"I, um, I - - it was all of my clothes from the club," she muttered. "I didn't think that I would be needing the, anymore."

I growled. "You _definitely_ won't be needing them anymore," I snarled. She smiled at me and snuggled closer, the tension draining from her like air from a tire. I cuddled her as close as I could get her without having sex with her. "But, uh, you didn't throw _all_ of them away, did you?" The boy in me couldn't help but think about some of the first things that I had seen her in. Even in the very beginning, I had loved watching her in those clothes. It was my anger at the fact that other people were seeing my imprint in them that made me want to burn everything she owned.

"I bought some other things, Em," she giggled. "You'll have to wait until Christmas to see them." I rolled the both of us over so that I could see the clock and she was lying on my chest.

"I think that you're forgetting about the time, Miss Rivers," I murmured. "I do have one more question for you though," I said after I kissed her a few more times. She hummed questioningly. "Are we swapping gifts or no?"

"I have you as my gift," she replied, pressing a gentle kiss to my lips. "You've given me so much, Embry. It would be wrong of you to give me something else." I couldn't stop myself from reaching into the nightstand drawer to pull the woven bracelet from its depths. The woven leather with turquoise beads, the pieces of leather winding around each other to the knotted end that would fall at the bottom of her wrist.

"Regardless, I think I'll must give you this." I kissed the inside of her wrist and then slid the band over her hand and onto her thin wrist. "You're amazing, Penelope. Nothing will ever want me to leave you."

"Promise?" Instead of responding, I gave her my lips and pulled her down onto my lap, creating as much friction as possible between us. "I love you," she murmured. I chose to show her instead.


	57. Chapter LVI

**Author's Note: I know it's sad to say, but we're nearing the end. I hope you all enjoy! Love & Thanks!**

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**Chapter LVI**

Embry jolted awake a few mornings after Christmas. He explained that his bracelet was like a promise ring, that it was part of the old tribal traditions. I smiled, remembering them well. I had always wanted one, wanted to find the guy that would love me enough to give me one. Any joy that I might have felt, however, disappeared in the next instant. "Shit; fucking shit!" he shouted. I started in his arms and shook my head, trying to dispel the sleepiness and figure out what the danger was.

"What's wrong?" I asked, trying to make my brain function correctly.

"The snow's sticking. It's here; they're going to be here. I should get - - I have to go, love," he proclaimed. His completely nude self slid from the bed and rushed over to our dresser. He pulled a pair of jean cut offs from the drawer and pulled them over. He jumped back to me, the bed hopping along with him. "Stay in the house, okay? Love you." He kissed me quickly and snatched an undershirt from the ground before he ran out the door.

I rolled over and told myself to go back to bed, but thoughts of sleep were promptly interrupted when I realized what Embry had said. They were going to be here. They were the Volturi. Embry had made me think that everything was going to be okay when he left. I suppose he had thought that I would either figure it out or that I would go back to sleep and forget about it all. Sleep was well beyond my reach now. Embry was going to a fight, a fight against the royal vampires. He could die.

Needing something to do, I jumped up and stripped the bed of sheets. I set them into the washer and set the next load aside. I rearranged our drawers, shampooed our carpets, spent an our or two in our bathroom, tiptoed along the edge of the carpeting the bedroom and headed to the kitchen. I spent hours on my hands and knees, carefully scrubbing the counters, the floors, cleaning out the refrigerator. The door banged open after what seemed like a million years later. Embry rushed across the threshold to my side. "Are you okay?" I asked him, my face mirroring his concern.

He gathered me close, his face buried in the wavy depths of my hair. "Listen, I have to take you out of here, okay?" he begged me. I frowned and let him snuggle me closer. I breathed in the deep, woodsy scent of him, let it comfort me for a few moments. "Penn? Please tell me that you hear me. Okay? I have to get you out of this house."

"Embry, what's going on?" I asked him. I wanted him to hiss me, to tell me that everything was going to be okay. "Are they here?"

"Yes." I heard a quiver in his voice, a sound that said that he needed something.

"What's going on?" He didn't answer. "Em?"

"Jake - - he Alpha Ordered us to leave if something happens." There was the tremor again. "We can't just leave him. It's a Pack law, but how am I supposed to do that when he ordered me to leave him?" It was the reality hitting him. The reality that hits us imprints every single day. The boys think of themselves as invincible. They see themselves as Warriors that are impossible to be defeated. But we imprints, the girls that stand by these men, we realize that while they're out there protecting our people, they are moments away from death. They could be torn from us any day of the week.

"It's going to be okay," I tried to reassure. But how can you promise someone that things are going to be okay when you yourself need that reassurance? Regardless, I would have to put it aside until later. Embry needed one of the few things that I could give him: comfort. "You guys don't know what's coming. You said so yourself. It is doubtful that the Volturi will fight when there are so many of you, right?"

"That's the general idea," he replied, though there was exhaustion lingering in his voice. "But the other idea is that we'll be able to protect each other if something goes wrong."

"Would you do the same?"

"What?"

"Would you do the same thing for Jake if you were the Alpha?"

"I don't know, Penn."

"Well, I do. And the answer is yes; yes you would. Would you like me to tell you why you would?" He just stared at me expectantly. "Because you know what it would do to your friends, to your brothers, and to the imprints if anyone else had to watch them die. If you had to be there while Jake fought, while he struggled, trying to save him and ultimately failed, you would never forgive yourself. We imprints... God only knows what would become of us if any of you died. You think you guys feel bad when we're hurt? Imagine how we feel knowing that you guys go off to these situations every day? It tears us apart."

That seemed to get him back to normal. He gathered me against his chest, his hand stroking over my hair. "We're going to be fine, Penn. There will be no reason for us to have to obey Jake's order," he promised.

"That's my boy," I whispered into his chest. "Now, what were you saying about my going somewhere?" I asked. His arms constricted, like a snake desperate to keep a hold on its prey. I didn't want to be anywhere but with him.

"I have to take you over to Jake's house. I just ran by there. Charlie, Kim, and Emily are all there with Billy. There's going to be guards there. We don't expect any trouble, but if it happens, I want you to be with people." I'm sure somewhere in his rationalization there was a worry for me. I hated to be alone. I worried that my father would come back from the dead. I worried that Ken would come back, regardless of how scared he was. It would never end. At least, it felt that way when I was alone. If I wasn't busy, if I wasn't doing something, it felt like the world was coming down around me.

"Okay."

"Grab some clothes. I don't know - - I don't expect it to take long. In theory, they should see Nessie and that should be the end of it. But... But we never know." Nessie. I told myself that the girl was an innocent pawn in the world. She hadn't asked to be born. She hadn't asked for Bella Swan to fuck a vampire. I truly didn't think that she wanted to be a hybrid. But while I told myself those things, I couldn't forget the fact that my friends, my _family_ was being put in danger. The world seemed to swallow me whole for a second. In theory, they should see Nessie. That was what he had said. In theory was great. But there were so many theories that had never been proven and countless more that had been proven wrong. What if this was one of those. "You're worrying again," he breathed.

"I always worry about you." He kissed my forehead, the heat of it sending shivers down my spine and lulling me into a false sense of security. It was what he always did. True, he had never fallen through. He had never let me down. But all things could chance in a moment. Everything could come to a screeching halt any moment.

"Get your things, love," he whispered. It wasn't late, but as I pushed a days worth of clothes into Embry's duffle bag, I felt like the life had been drained out of me. I was half asleep as he pulled me into the car. I was like a zombie, every bad scenario that could happen running through my head. He pulled me into his side as soon as he was in the driver's seat. He kept one arm wrapped around me and the other hand on the wheel, speeding through town to the Black house. The drive seemed to take no time at all, mostly because I knew that the second he walked me into the house, that would be the end. He would go off to that fight.

"Can you promise me that everything is going to be okay?" I asked him when he put the car into park.

"Let's get you in the house."

"Embry, you either tell me that you're coming home or I'm not moving," I threatened. In a flash he was on the other side of the car, pulling me from the passenger seat. He lifted me high into his arms. "Tell me!" I screamed. I had only just gotten my mother back. In my life, it would only make sense that I could only have one good thing. I had her. I would have to lose Embry. It was the natural order of things. I fought in his arms, kicking and hitting and flailing. I could feel the bruises forming; there was nothing I could do. He held me in an iron vise.

"Penn, just listen," he said as he tried to get me to clam down. He dropped me down to the ground, a few feet away from the front porch. "I can't -"

"You either tell me that you're going to be safe or you leave," I snapped.

"What?"

"Tell me that it's all going to be okay or get out of here. I don't want to see you if you're going to be reckless with your life," I snarled. It was painful, the fear that was beating in my chest. I knew it was the fear that was making me say things, things I didn't mean. But Embry's silence was just as loud as my screaming. "Get out! Get out Embry! Go! You don't care, then get out!" I didn't go into the house.

I marched around the back of the house to Ryanne's gym set up and grabbed a pair of gloves, throwing my anger, my fear, my worries into each punch. And Embry just left. He was gone. Off to fight. "And now he thinks that I hate him." I sank down against the grass, leaning against the frame of the punching bag and wept.


	58. Chapter LVII

**Author's Note: Apparently, my writing yesterday was unclear. I'm super sorry about that. Penn is not in the professional gym, but rather in the Black's backyard with all of Ryanne's home equipment. Again, sorry about that. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter LVII**

I felt childish and immature, which was fitting seeing as that was the way that I was acting. I kept myself in the Black's backyard, working in the small outdoor gym that Ryanne had set up. I wasn't very good; I knew that. I had no reason to _be_ good. I never went into the house to see how the other imprints were doing. From my place on the back porch steps, I could hear Charlie working on something, Emily muttering to herself, and Billy Black talking about fish. I wouldn't go in, though. They were working, doing whatever it is they were doing to try and ignore the fact that our guys had gone off to a fight.

I felt bad about the things that I had said. Hell, I felt bad immediately after saying them. I probably sounded like some child throwing a tantrum. But experience had taught me that you couldn't have everything in life. I had my mother back, which meant that I couldn't have something else. It would only make sense for that something to be Embry. And if I pushed him away now, it wouldn't hurt nearly as much when he decided that he didn't want me. That was another lie; it would hurt like hell no matter what.

"You sound like you're having a rough day," Billy's voice commented after I'd sighed heavily. "Don't suppose you'd care to entertain an old man?"

"You're not that old," I replied quietly. "I hope you don't mind that I came out here to beat the bag a little," I whispered then.

"You don't like this fight." There was no question in his voice, but I found myself nodding anyways. "The Cullens don't believe there is to be a fight."

"From the way Embry tells it, the Cullens weren't expecting Jake to almost die in the newborn war either." Billy's jaw bunched and I regretted my words. "I don't trust them. I think that some of them may have good intentions, but from what I can tell, every single one of them is bending to the will of a spiteful, selfish, girl."

"Insightful," Billy replied just as softly as I had spoken. "You notice more than we think you do, don't you?"

"It happens when you've spent as much time around bad people as I have," I admitted. "You learn to look for the signs that trouble is coming."

"To see what makes people tick and what calms them down," he nodded. I stared at him quizzically. "The same thing happens when you find yourself wheelchair bound. Life is not meant to be lived in a chair or cowering in a corner." His lips tweaked a little when he nodded toward the punching bag. "Ryanne learned that you have to fight for the things that you want."

"Is this part of the conversation where you play the wise, sage Chief?" I asked him, trying to make it a joke.

"I learned to listen well being in this chair," he added. "You're worried about your boy."

"You're worried about your's too," I countered.

"I didn't yell at mine before he left today." The quiet dagger was thrown directly at my face. "You feel bad now, right?" I wouldn't look at him. He was right, of course. I felt terrible. I felt like I had swallowed a gallon a bleach, that it was poisoning me from the inside out. My heart was turning black, the fear eating away at me. "You should run around for a little while. Maybe lift something. Get the edge off."

"I don't think the edge really goes away when it's someone that you love," I whispered. "I mean, isn't that how people get into drinking after their loved ones die?" He nodded solemnly. "I know what you're trying to do in there," I added. "You're trying to exhaust them, make them too tired to remember that their guys are off at war. You're trying to keep them distracted. I get it; I really do. But it's doesn't work like that for me. I spent the better part of my life learning how to remember the things that I was trying to distract myself from. Those are the lessons that you learn from."

"And what lesson do you have to learn by clinging to your worry about him?"

"The facts of life!" I screamed. "I know what I am; I always have. I know who I am. I know that, unlike everyone else, life doesn't work out for me. You can't have everything that you want." I knew, again, that my anger was misdirected. Billy was only trying to comfort me while I worried about my friends, about my family, about my Embry. Whether they came back in one piece or not, the reality was that I would lose him. Things had been going way to easy for way to long. "Thank you for your words and your help," I said quietly. "But I'll handle things on my own."

Before I could step far enough from him, Billy's warm hand wrapped around my wrist and tugged me back. "That's where you're wrong. You have never _handled_ anything. It's part of being a pack; you learn to rely on others too." That was what was terrifying. I couldn't let myself rely on them anymore. All too soon, it would end. It had to end. Billy released me with a heavy sigh. "Every single one of the imprints was made by design. Don't think that you're special and get to leave your's early."

He rolled away and left me standing there, staring after him. I didn't think that I was _special_. Being special would mean that I got to keep Embry, that I could have all the things that I wanted. I was never one of those girls who was meant to have the happy ending that I had always been sure of.

Punching at the bag held little interest to me now. I sat on the porch and watched the wind whip the snowflakes around a bit. I thought back on all the times that I had spent with Embry, the ones that I had actually enjoyed. Even in the beginning, when I thought that I hated him because he wanted to be around, I liked that he wanted to be around. I liked that he kept trying. I thought about the first time that he hugged me, the first time that he kissed me. I sucked to know that I was going to have to let it all go. But he deserved better than me, I had always known that. I just didn't want to let him go.

Luckily for me, the universe wasn't going to give me an option. I was going to lose him well before I was ready.

I couldn't tell you how long I was sitting there watching nothing happen. I was lost in my own little montage of memories, of thoughts. A strangled sob broke through the air. A howl followed, then another, and another, and another. Each was more pained than the last. "Jared!" Kim shrieked.

I told my heart not to get excited. I told my body to stay where it was. I had, after all, kicked Embry out of a house that didn't belong to either of us. My body moved with a mind of its own, the imprint drawing me out to find my wolf, to find my mate. Charlie was wrapped in Paul's arms, making me long for my own embrace. Though I doubted it would be nearly as sweet after my words to him that afternoon, I craved it. "You're okay, right?" she spoke. _"Everyone is okay?"_

_"Everyone will be fine." _My heart plummeted. Will be? Why was there a will be.

_"Will be?"_ Charlie's hand conveyed my fears, my questions.

_"Yeah, everyone is fine except for Leah, Quil, and -"_ There was a moment that he didn't speak or sign. My heart throbbed, wanting Paul to say that it was Jake or Jared or anyone. Jared was standing but two feet from me and I still wanted it to be him. Anyone but the one person that I knew it was. _"And Embry."_

"No!" I screamed loud enough to make God, the Spirits, and the universe here. I wanted to crumple, to turn into dust and float away. "No, no, no!" I could feel the shaky sobs coming from my throat. Charlie looked at me with such pity, but I hadn't the energy nor the time to yell at her for it. "Where is he? Is he -" I couldn't even ask it.

Paul shook his head, his chin digging into Charlie's hair. God how I longed for Embry to hold me like that. I had fucked it all up. "He's in the forest, still. Seth and Collin were trying to convince him to phase back, last I was there. He said that it was too painful." He couldn't phase. He was going to die. Even Jake had been able to phase back after the newborn war. Embry was just as strong, just as resolute. "He was asking for you."

"Thank you." I sprinted through the trees, letting the low branches whip my face as I went. It was what I deserved. His death would be my fault. I had upset him. I had hurt him. I might have to lose him, but he wasn't going to die. I couldn't let him. "Don't die, Em," I pleaded as I hurried along.


	59. Chapter LVIII

**Author's Note: Okay, two more chapters and an epilogue. Sad day, right? Enjoy!**

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**Chapter LVIII**

I scrambled through the forest, tripping and landing on my face more than once. He couldn't die. God, let anything else take him away from me, but he could not die on me. I gave up on trying to follow's Paul directions, few as they were, and started shouting. Paul had said something about Seth and Collin. "Seth!" I screamed. "Seth, where are you?" I needed to find him. I needed to make Embry live. Life without him would be terrible, but life without him _living_ would tear me apart. I wouldn't survive it. At least he would be alive.

"Penn?" Seth's voice called back. I nearly collapsed on the ground with relief. He was close. "Stay where you are; I'll come find you." I nodded, though he couldn't see it and waited for him to find me. "Paul got you?" I nodded. "Thank God; he's been begging to explain to you. He keeps saying he's sorry. But none of us know what's going on. He won't tell us, just keeps saying that you need to know that he's sorry."

"Where is he?" I begged. Seth wrapped his hand around my elbow and practically dragged me through the forest to where Embry was lying against a tree. He didn't look anything like the man that I remembered. There was blood oozing from a wound in his shoulder, more trickling from one in his stomach. One arm looked like it had been taken completely from the rest of his body. Collin was trying to convince him to do something or another, but all he succeeded in doing was forcing Embry to shift and cry out in pain. "Em?" I whispered as I made for the tree.

"Penn?" His voice sounded like he had swallowed sandpaper. "Are you here?" he begged me. I nodded and sank to my knees beside him.

"What happened to you?" I begged him, brushing his hair away from his face and watching him flinch in the process. "Sorry." I moved to remove my hand, but he managed to reach up and grab it. "What happened, Embry?"

"He won't over a damn cliff," Collin screeched. "Trying to take down some fucking leech."

"Watch your mouth," Embry coughed out. I almost smiled; like he had never said worse before. "I couldn't let that leech get past me. One had already taken down Leah and injured Quil. If he got past me, he would have gotten to our imprint and hurt them."

I looked over all of his wounds. His face looked deformed, bruised and swollen because of his different wounds. "Your poor face," I moaned, slipping my hand free from his and gently cupping his cheek. He leaned into me. "How long has it been?" I asked him.

"Well, not since last night, but you're going to have to wait until I'm healed," he replied cheekily. Seth and Collin both faked a gag and said that they would be a few dozen feet away, where they could at least pretend not to hear us.

"Please think with your other head." I managed to smile and feel a little bit lightened. "How long ago did they find you?" I explained.

"Like an hour." He grimaced as he tried to shift around and take me into his arms. "Are you still mad at me?"

"You -"

"Didn't break a promise," he interrupted. "That's why I wouldn't give you one, Penn. I didn't want to have something happen that was beyond my control. I've made it a point to never lie to you. I didn't want to break it now." He took in a shuddering breath. "I wasn't trying to be -"

"Sh," I hushed. "I was stupid. I was worried and scared and all I could think of was losing you." Because it was bound to happen at one point or another. I couldn't keep him forever. "I shouldn't have told you to - -" My throat clogged as I tried to figure out what to say to make him leave without hurting him anymore. I could stay with him until he was healed, make sure that he wasn't going to die. Then I could be finished. I would find a way to make him get out of here. I would have to. Giving your heart away and having it torn from my chest were two different things. I could survive giving it away. I knew, now, what it felt like to have it ripped. Even if it had been just for a moment, I couldn't survive it again. "I shouldn't have told you to leave then," I finally said.

"But you think there's another time that you should ask me to leave?" He coughed and choked a little, spitting some blood into the grass behind us. "What did I do, Penn? I was just trying not to lie to you. I was trying to be honest with you."

"I'm not upset about that." Anymore. I just knew what I had to do. I had to give him up. I was going to have to set him free. "I just... Embry, you don't know -"

"You're trying to talk yourself out of this, to make it so that you don't have to tell me what's going on in that head of yours." What could I say? He was absolutely right. IT was exactly what I was trying to do. I had no rights to Embry Call; none that made sense anyways. The imprint bound was a magical, mystical thing. There was no earthly power that held him to me, nothing that gave me the right to claim him. He groaned and grimaced, a strangled cry emerging from his throat as he turned himself in order to fully catch me in his arms and wrap me up in his embrace. He panted for air, which struck me to the core. Embry never showed weakness. His injuries must be more severe than I realized.

"You're going to hurt yourself," I managed to get out. My throat felt like it was clogged with tears, like I wasn't going to get the words out.

"Tell me what's going on, Penn. I under - - I understand that you," he groaned, "that you were worried about me. I get it, love. But you're lying to me about something, Penn. Don't - -" he coughed now, his breathing a little more labored. I made a move to push off him, but he tightened his arms around me. I knew he couldn't have much strength left in him, so I stopped fighting and laid back against him. "Don't do that to me; I've never lied to you. Please don't do it."

"You just don't understand, Em."

"What don't I understand? Please, _please_ explain! Because I have spent weeks upon weeks of trying to understand. So tell me what I have figured out yet."

"Things don't work out for me!" I shouted at his face. The walls that I was trying to erect around my heart were crumbling again. "My life doesn't have good things, least of all a lot at a time. Embry, I have my mother back. How much long can I have you? My father is dead. That means that he can't come back and get me. That means that I should lose like _everything_ good that's happened to me. I shouldn't - - There's no way that I can have my worst nightmare gone, my mother back, and you. I just can't."

He shifted me again, swallowing a groan and holding me on top of him. I was probably getting stained with his blood, but I didn't care. "Don't you think that maybe, just maybe, the spirits and the rest of the universe is trying to pay you back for years after years of hardship? Maybe the Spirits gave you to me," I noticed that I was the gift; not him. If he only understood how important he was, that _he_ was the gift, "because they know that you needed something good. Maybe the world gave you back your mother for a reason. It's time for you to have everything good that you deserve."

"You're just going to leave, Em. All good things must come to an end," I argued. "There is nothing that ties you to me."

"Did you forget that you're my imprint?" he snarled.

"That's a Spirits thing," I retorted. "I mean that I have no claim to you that actually matters to other people. I'm your imprint, but when you tell other people, I'm just your girlfriend. That's all I am."

"Are you - - Penn, an imprint is the biggest claim that you could ever have? We are literal soul mates, two parts of a whole. What more could you think that you want?"

"I don't know," I sobbed. "I'm scared, Embry. Okay? Is that what you want to hear? I don't rely on other people. I don't _care_ about other people. Now, I suddenly find myself head over heels in love with a man who fights monsters for a living. You put yourself in danger every day. You're one of the only people I've ever wanted to keep around, to live with, to love, and I face the danger of losing you _every single day_."

"I'm not going anywhere, love. It's true that I won't ever promise you that I'll come home safe or that I'll never be harmed. I can't know those things. But I will always do my best to come home, Penelope." I sobbed into his neck, strangling him with my arms. "Careful, love. For the next couple of hours, I'm still fragile." I nodded but couldn't bring myself to relax my hold. "If you wanted an _earthly_ claim, as you've put it, you should have said something. We can get married, Penn. We can make things more final for your sake if you want to."

"I just want you." I was being a silly, stupid emotional girl. But lying in his arms felt right, so who cares? "I love you, Em. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Penelope Rivers." He kissed me, despite the overall pain that I could feel him holding back. "Hey guess what?" he moaned a little while later. I hummed, wishing that we could be at home and in bed and not in the forest. "All the vampire shit is over with. It's done."


	60. Chapter LIX

**Author's Note: Okay, here's the final chapter. I know it's a sad day and that this story is significantly shorter than my others. The difference is the timeline in this story. It started at a later time than all the others. I hope you enjoy. There will be the epilogue! Love & Thanks**

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**Chapter LIX**

Embry had been right when he said that it was all over. It was, really, truly, and finally over. The next few months held a bliss unlike anything that I had ever known. I continued staying with our mothers, but I could barely sleep without Embry with me. I loved him, more than I should. All my worries and fears were just my love showing itself in the most annoying way. I began to like school more than I ever had before for nothing more than the fact that I spent six hours a day with the man that I wanted for the rest of my life.

School finally ended. I watched most of the people that I had gone to school with in the early years graduated. It was that fact that made me realize that Embry was a whole year younger than me. When I was a little girl, I had never imagined marrying someone younger than me. Of course, it was rare that he seemed younger than me. His body build and all the wolf genetics gave him a body of a man that was far older than his actual age. "The man I loved was younger than me when I fell in love," my mother informed me when we were sitting in the backyard.

She seemed to be doing well, better here than she was out in Florida. She had gained weight, enough that I couldn't see her ribs when I helped her get dressed. She smiled more, her skin wasn't as white as it had been. The sunshine was helping. There wasn't much of it here in La Push, but what there was we soaked up. "Mama, are you happier here?" I asked her then. Sitting on the porch swing, she leaned against the arms of the chairs and wrapped me up in her arms. I felt like a little kid again, sitting with her mother and listening to silly fairytales.

"I like Miss Lucy," she said. "And Embry is a good man for you, Penny. He takes good care of you. Why do you ask?"

"I like having you home with me, that's all." I didn't want to push anything with Embry. She admitted that she was starting to like Embry. Asking her if I could go back to my house didn't seem like the appropriate time.

"I was thinking that - - Maybe I could move in with you and Embry," she muttered. I looked up at her startled, confused as to where this came from. "Lucy deserves to have her own home back and I was thinking that I could just come and live wit you two."

"Mama, we would love to have you," I said, "but I don't want you to feel like you have to be around because I want to be with Em. I understand your trust issues; I had them." I still did some days. "Embry isn't home most of the day because he has work. I generally just do my own thing at home."

"I wouldn't mind living with you two. I would like to get to know him much better," she said. "But you should talk to him before you just decide that you're just going to invite me to live with you." I opened my mouth to tell her that Embry wouldn't care but she pressed on. "Talk to Embry."

"Talk to Embry about what?" I jumped out of my mother's arms instinctively. I loved having my mom there, having her to hold me but I preferred Embry's arms over everything else in the world. "Good morning, Ms. Rivers," he greeted my mother, ignoring me. He held out each of his hands, one for me and one for my mom. "Let me get you back in the house, ma'am. Them Penn and I can talk about whatever it is we need to talk about." He winked down at me, causing me to smile like a little girl.

He tugged me into his side and wrapped his strong arm around my mother's feeble waist. She braced herself against his waist, keeping her hand against his ribcage. I liked it; I liked seeing my mother relying on the man that I loved. He released me once we were in the house to better help my mom up the narrow staircase to her bedroom. Then he was practically sprinting down the stairs to grab me up in his arms. It had been months since we had slept in the same bed and days since we had seen each other. We were getting a little antsy. "Embry Michael Call, you take that outside. I don't want that going on in front of me," Lucy interrupted when Embry's mouth crashed down on mine.

Feeling less and less like the Penn of old, I giggled when Embry growled and scooped me up into his arms. Still kissing me, he marched right back out to where he'd found me earlier. After a few minutes on the swing with Embry, I was pretty sure that I would never be able to sit on the damn thing with my mother ever again. Tucked against his side with his fingers drawing lazy circles on my upper arm, he spoke, "What is it that you need to talk to me about?" he asked. I heard a distinct tone of self-satisfaction in his voice that reminded me he could hear my pounding heart in my ribcage.

"My mother had a proposition for us today," I began, trying to catch my breath and slow my heart. He just looked down at me expectantly. "And you can say no, although I don't understand why you would." He snorted at that, but waited for me to continue. "My mom feels like she's intruding on your mother."

"She's not -"

"I know, but that's how my mom feels. Anyways, she said to me that she was thinking that maybe she could - - maybe we could all move home." I waited for the idea of it to sink in, for him to say that he didn't want it, for him to say that he thought it was a great idea. Instead, he said nothing at all. He sat there, in utter silence, rocking us back and forth with the warm summer wind that blew in from the ocean. "Like I said," I began after what felt like an eternity, "you could always say no."

"That's not what I was thinking about," he said, turning to face me like I had informed him that a unicorn crossed to backyard. "I was trying to decide what al I wanted to get finished in the guest bedroom before we could take her. You know, we could head over to the hardware store right now. We should paint it, obviously. Something bright and happy that would remind her of the things she has. Maybe some yellow or -" I giggled, interrupting his very detailed train of thought. "Are you _laughing_ at me, Miss Rivers?"

I swallowed another chortle and looked up at him with the most serious face I could muster. "No, no, not at all Mr. Call." A couple of seconds into his intense stare, however, and I was set in another fit of laughter. "I'm not trying to laugh at you," I explained through gasps for air. "But you never cease to surprise me."

"Surprise you how? You didn't really think that I would say that your mother couldn't come live with us, did you?" he asked incredulously. I really had no one to blame but myself. I had doubted him when the Volturi came, so every time I mentioned something in question, he thought he needed to make sure I didn't doubt him again. "Let's head out. We can have her in the house by tomorrow morning."

A few days later, I was still marveling at Embry's generosity. He asked Jake to take him off the rotation for three days while we got my mother acclimated. My mother insisted that it was silly, but he did it nonetheless. He spent the day with my mother and I in the backyard, making different changes until it looked like something out of a magazine. Of course, we'd had to tear it down to absolutely nothing before we could get it back to beautiful.

Embry had said that once to me, ages ago. I was explaining to him that I was nothing; or at least, that I had been nothing. I had been stripped down to the very core, nothing left to destroy. He'd told me that it was a good thing, that I'd needed it to happen to allow the good things in my life to build. At the time, I thought him a spiteful person, saying words that were only going to remind me that I couldn't have anything good. Now, looking at the beautiful garden full of life that surrounded me, I saw that he was right. I had been dismantled, shaved down to nothing. But it was necessary.

Because of those things that happened, I had a beautiful life with a man and my mother and a family.


	61. Epilogue

**Author's Note: Okay, here it is. This is the very end. I hope you all enjoy!**

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**_Four Years Later_**

**Epilogue**

My mother died three years after my high school graduate. On the same day that I was getting ready to make my announcement, I burst into my mother's room to find her lying peacefully in bed. My attempts to rouse her had done nothing. Ultimately, I sank down on the bed and held her to my chest, sobbing uncontrollably until Embry came and found me. He'd called the hospital and the emergency services before he managed to pry her from my arms. The Pack gave her a tribal burial, fit for a member of their group.

I suppose, in a way, the universe was making an exchange. My mother was taken from me, far before her time, but it had given me my daughter. I, Penelope Rivers, the girl who was told that she would never have children, had been given the gift of a little angel. Elizabeth Lucile, Lizzy Loo to her dear daddy, sat in front of the fire while I brushed her dampened hair. We both patiently waited her father's return from the Pack meeting. While most of the guys were no longer phasing, allowing them to age with their wives and children, mandatory pack meetings still happened. Of course, life had changed for many of the guys, so meeting never ran later than eight.

"Dada," Lizzy complained. She was only eleven months old, but already learning quickly. Her chubby legs were churning even in her seat, proof of her learning to walk. Well, run; Lizzy didn't walk very much. Like both her parents, she was reckless beyond all belief.

"I don't know where Daddy is, little love," I whispered. Her hair finally orderly, I brought my arms around her and pulled her up to my hip. "How about you and I sit by the fire and we'll have a story while we wait for Daddy?" Even as I made the suggestion, my sleepy angel was yawning and lolling her head against my shoulder. I settled her against my chest, snuggling her close the way I remembered my own mother doing. "Once upon a time, there was a maid in a castle," I began. I stroked her hair away from her face, seeing Embry in her eyes and brow, my mother in her nose.

"The king was an evil man. He was mean to the maid. He forced her to cook and clean and do all sorts of ugly things." Lizzy yawned, her lids growing heavy, but she fought the sleep to listen to her story. "The only good thing the king did was give her a place to stay. The castle was small, hidden in the trees where people wouldn't find it. It protected the little maid from the evil wolf that lived in the forests."

"Good wolf," Lizzy mumbled impatiently. She'd heard this story far too many times not to know that little tidbit. She howled drowsily, making me laugh at her little antics.

"Hush now, love," I muttered. "Now, the people in the village were afraid of the wolf because people had died and it looked like the evil wolf did it." My daughter yawned again and frowned at me, not liking this part of the story. She only liked the end. "One night, the little maid was running away, trying to escape from the _evil king_." I watched Lizzy's eyes narrow, a snarl much like her father's rising in her throat. "The king's men found her, though, at the same time that she ran into the wolf. The wolf stood over the little girl, protecting her from the bad men. He wouldn't let them take her away. When the king's men finally ran away, afraid of the big wolf, the animal took her to a house on the other side of the village.

"He nudged the girl inside the house, led her to a bedroom, and rested at the bottom of her bed. Every morning, he licked her cheek until she woke up, and then left. Safe from the king, the little maid cooked and cleaned and went to school, always making sure there was enough food for the wolf. But he would never come back until the night." Lizzy's mouth stretched in a wide gape, showing just how tired she was. We wouldn't have time for the full story tonight. "One night, the wolf led her outside and transformed before her eyes. The fur fell away and in front of her stood a prince."

"Good wolf!" Lizzy added into her story.

I touched my fingertip to her nose. "Always a good wolf," I smiled. "The prince told the maid of monsters cold as ice that had killed the people. The wolf protected the people. And the girl. You see, the wolf loved the little maid. She told him about the evil things the king had made her do, but the prince did not care. He loved the little maid and told her so."

"Queen," my daughter said, bidding me farther into the story.

"Okay, love. The wolf killed the evil king and married the little maid. He made her a princess instead of a lowly slave. And when the time was right, the prince and princess became the King and Queen. Together, they had a pretty little princess and they all lived happily ever after."

It was a simple way to explain our story to my daughter, to tell her about the things that her father had done that may have saved my life. Embry and I had talked about it and decided that one day, when the girl was older, we would tell her the truth. For now, this was the best that we could give her. "Pwincess," she declared with a chubby finger pointed at herself.

"That's right Lizzy Loo," Embry's voice declared. "You're my little princess."

"Dada!" she squealed in delight. She reached up and let her father take her into his arms. Embry settled himself on the couch beside me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and settled Lizzy on his lap. She twisted around in his arms, the excitement of his return doing away with her fatigue. Framing his face in her hands, she muttered, "Good wolf." He laughed at her and tucked her head under his chin. Like he had everyday since she was an infant, Embry curled her little body against his chest and rested his jaw on her head.

We sat in silence for a short amount of time and let our precious gift fall asleep. Once she was snoring lightly, mimicking my husband's sounds, Em turned his head towards me and kissed my forehead. "Have I thanked you for our daughter yet today?" he asked me.

"You don't have to thank me _every_ day," I teased. At some point or another, Embry would have a free moment and thank me for giving him the babe. If he only understood how grateful I was to have her.

"I look at her and I just can't understand how your father could have done those things to you," he said.

It was an unwritten rule: we never spoke of my father. But today was the anniversary of his death, the reminder that my love, my wolf, my _husband_ had saved me from the worst horror of all. "Mama said that he wasn't like that in the beginning," I replied. It was no means of defense, just a fact that my mother had told me.

"Probably because he knew back then what a gift he had been given." Em's arms tightened around 'his girls,' as he called us.

"I hardly think that I was a _gift_, Embry. My mother hadn't been expecting me; I was probably a burden."

"No child is ever a burden," he retorted.

"And how would you know that?" I asked him, a faint smile playing at my lips.

"Because I was gifted with a wife that I could love everyday for the rest of my life _and_ a daughter we both thought we'd never have. I have everything that I could ever want."

I smiled up at him, mentally debating for a moment. It was true that I felt beyond blessed. My life was much more than I had ever thought that it would become. Looking back at my beginnings, at the things that I had been forced to do, at the horrors that plagued me for so many years. Just like the wolf in Lizzy's story, Embry had saved my life. "You should put her to bed," I suggested a few moments later. "I'll meet you in bed."

Embry nodded and took her off to the bedroom. I heard him singing to her, old Quileute lullabies that his mother used to sing to him, as he laid her down in bed. I was always grateful for thin wall when Embry tucked our daughter in. Through the sheetrock I could hear the rustling of fabric as he laid her down and kissed her cheek. "I love you, Lizzy Loo. Sleep tight."

He joined me in bed a moment later and bounded onto the bed, acting more like a horny teenager than a father. "So, you have everything that you have every wanted?" I asked him.

He leaned down and kissed my neck in the way he knew drove me wild. "There is nothing else in this world that I want," he replied.

"Well that sucks," I muttered, pushing on his shoulders until he backed away. "I don't think I can return this." I brought his hands to my still-flat stomach with a knowing smile on my lips. I had freaked out when I first found out, scared that it was too soon after Lizzy's birth. The doctor had assured me that it wasn't. It was normal, they had said.

It took Embry a moment for my words to clique in his brain. When it did, he whooped so loud, I was shocked our little bundle in the other room didn't awaken. "I love you, Penelope Call."

"I guess, since I'm stuck with you," I sighed heavily, "I love you, too Embry Call."


End file.
